Creation & Emotion: A Mega Man Alternate Universe
by Sierra Omega
Summary: It has arrived... Book One is now complete. I enjoyed everyone's reviews and input, and I hope to recieve lots more! Please let me know if you want me to continue! ~Sierra Omega~
1. Activation

Creation and Emotion: A Mega Man Alternate Universe  
Chapter One: Activation  
This is an alternate universe fiction to some degree… I wanted to twist things around some!! ?   
  
"Grandfather!" I called out as I got out of the aircar. An aging man with sparkling eyes emerged   
from the doors of his home to greet me, arms opened wide in welcome. Dr. Light was a very friendly   
man, and though he was often absorbed in his ingenious experiments with artificial intelligence, he always   
made time for me.  
I for the most part lived alone ever since Dr. Wily killed my parents to get back at Grandfather Light for   
not joining in his evil plans. It's been difficult, but I find my way. Luckily I found that I had inherited skills   
with machinery and robotics, so like today I would often come to help dear Grandfather with his robots.  
It's been about four months since I had last come here, and my presence today is the result of   
the completion of his first two robots. I ran a hand through my light brown hair to untangle the wind's   
abuses, pulling long strands away from my grey-blue eyes.  
"Sierra!" he exclaimed happily. "It's wonderful that you've made it! Please come in!" He   
beckoned quickly, stepping back so that I could carry my suitcase inside as well. As usual the lab was   
in disarray, with parts and tools scattered all over the place. I noted that some wires were hanging from   
the ceilings, and one or two of them were setting of a spark or two. I grinned. If Grandfather Light   
hadn't cleaned up since my last visit, it meant that something must have happened to where he could not   
stop working at all.  
Somehow sensing my amusement, he hurried over to the two lab tables at the end of the room.   
"Ah, yes, I never realized that do much time had passed that I didn't tidy up… but I have splendid   
news! The chips are complete!"  
"They are?" I asked excitedly. "So that's why you've worked so hard! Are they ready to be   
installed?"  
"Yes! Yes, of course! I just wanted you to see it happen, being your blueprints…"  
It had taken me a year to find a way to give the robots personalities, intelligence and emotions, and the   
design lay within a complex brainchip that contained super-sensitive microcircuitry. However the   
prototype had mysteriously disappeared with the original plans, so I had to start from scratch to   
redesign and rebuild them. This time, the chips were supposed to intensify human reaction within the   
robots, and give them a sense of concsience.  
And now, these two robots were about to come alive. I took some hesitant steps towards the lab   
tables, and gasped at the sight before me. On the left table was a robot in blue armor, with knee-high   
blue metal boots, and a blue helmet with dormant red reserve power crystal sat next to a head with wild   
brown hair. The eyes were closed as if in deep slumber, and I was struck by the realism of his features.  
On the opposite table lay the other magnificent creation, a taller robot with long blond hair down   
to its knees, and bright crimson armor covered a seemingly muscular form. This one's helmet, unlike the   
blue one's, was red and white with hornlike protrusions at the top, perhaps to give it a somewhat   
demonic or devilish air. The power stone was deep blue on this helmet, a sharp contrast to the blood   
reds.  
"I changed and improved some of their characteristics, and a quirk I added includes touching a   
button on their wrists to morph their armor into normal human clothing. The only thing that would tell   
them apart from normal humans are their boots, which are present at all times. I haven't quite figured out   
how to fix that yet."  
"Oh, don't worry, Grandfather," I reassured. "I am sure they will be wonderful. But do you think   
that they are stong enough to beat Wily when he returns?"  
"I should hope so. Are you ready to activate them, Sierra?"  
"Yes, Grandfather." I tried to hide the eagerness in my voice, but it couldn't be contained. At   
last, after all of our hard work… we could defend mankind from Wily's insanely destructive toys.   
Gingerly I took the brainchips from a small container on one table, and inserted each one carefuly into a   
slot in the robots' temples. As I stuck them in the opening sealed--- they were ready.  
I punched a series of buttons on the console between the two tables. Instantly a soft whirring   
and sequence of chirps began, and switched and controls lit up beneath my touch. Flipping a final   
switch, I slammed on the button beneath it to send a fresh surge of power to the 'bots. I saw the bodies   
shudder from the power, and Grandfather and I both held our breaths as their eyes shot open and they   
cried out in surprise. Pulling a lever to shut down the power, I froze in amazement.  
The blue one was already standing, his sapphire eyes scanning the messy lab in curious   
confusion. The other one, the red one, stayed put by sitting on the table, and he seemed to look straight   
at me with its piercing emerald optical circuits.  
"Wonderful!" Light exclaimed. "They are functional! Hello there!" he said to them. They turned   
their gazes to him quickly, and the blue one smiled.  
"Hello," it said in a soft alto voice. "Are you our father?"  
The old man laughed heartily at this question, but I didn't fail to notice the tear stinging his eye. I   
understood how he felt… it reminded me as well of the family I'd lost to Wily.  
"Yes, in a sense, I am," he answered finally. "I am Doctor Light, your creator. This is my   
granddaughter, Sierra."  
"Hello, Sierra. I am Mega Man, but you can call me Rock."  
I couldn't speak for a moment, for I was still recovering from the shock. He seemed so   
human… it was hard to believe. I looked at the robot… no, at Rock, and finally stammered, "It is nice   
to meet you, Rock."  
"You're pretty," he said, and I blushed profusely, causing Grandfather to laugh again. Rock   
seemed confused by this, and just shrugged as he continued to look at me.  
"What about you?" I said to the red robot. "Do you have a name?"  
"Zero," he said. "Just Zero." And with that he stood and crossed his arms while looking away.   
(AN: I know Zero was created by Wily, but not in this story, and there's no Roll here… she's too   
annoying)  
"Well now, Zero, Rock," Light began, "Now that you're here, we might as well show you where   
you'll be staying. Sierra can show you the way!"  
"Sure thing! This way, guys." They followed.  
"Okay Rock, this is your room," I pointed through a door. "There's your stasis chamber for   
sleeping" (I pointed to a large capsule) "your personal workstation" (a computer with a desk) "and a bar   
with special food and drink for ya."  
"Wow, it' really cool!" Rock said with his wide grin. "Thanks a lot, Sierra! Did you build it all?"  
"Well," I replied with a slight blush, "Most of it, at least. If you ever need anything, I'm two   
doors down, okay?"  
"Okay." He walked in, and I shut the door so that he could explore.  
"Your turn, Zero," I said to the red robot. He just looked at me with a stoic expression, arms   
still crossed. I raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.  
"How come you haven't changed out of your armor? Are your emotional circuits functioning all   
right?"  
"I am operating normally."  
"Well…" I trailed off, not entirely convinced. Turning around, I walked to the next room and   
beckoned to it. "This is your room. It's about the same as Rock's, except your capsule's a bit taller and   
all…"  
He didn't respond.  
"So…" I began, not knowing what to say. "I guess I'll leave you to yourself now! Bye, Zero!"  



	2. A Change In Humanity

Chapter 2: A Change in Humanity  
  
**Two Days Later**  
  
"Grandfather Light, did you finish the, er, special adjustments?"  
The old man looked at me somewhat sadly as he nodded, pointing to a metal cabinet in front of him. "Yes. They'll have to choose their own based on their preference."  
"Choose what?" said a voice from the door. The two of us turned to see Rock and Zero walking into the lab, both in human clothing.  
"Oh, good, you're here," Dr. Light stated. "There're some thing that I must tell to you--Zero, Rock. You were not just created and programmed to be like humans... you were created to protect them as well."  
"Protect them from what, Doctor?" Zero inquired in his deep baritone.  
"Well, in a nutshell," I answered, "from a maniac who was once Grandfather's partner-in-research. His name's Dr. Wily... and his goal is to enslave our world and cause fear and suffering for all." My voice cracked at 'suffering', and my eyes threatened to spill tears at that moment.   
"Yes, indeed," Dr. Light continued. "A very troubled man he is... but the point is, he also has the ability to create robots much like yourselves, only pure evil and rather brainless. Hence, Sierra and I have created weaponry and upgrades for your use, should you decide to fight Wily with us."  
"You bet I will!" Rock exclaimed while punching the air with a closed fist. "I won't let Wily hurt anybody! What about you, Zero?" All eyes turned to the blond silent one.  
He shrugged after a few seconds, replying with "Sounds like fun."  
Pleased, Grandfather opened the metal cabinet of weapons. "As I was saying before, each of you will have to choose a weapon to use; we have sabers and laser cannons." Rock was the first to step forward, gazing at the glinting metal guns and beam swords in concentration. He picked up a slender cannon, fingering the controls. He nodded to me.  
"Good choice," I explained. "That one's unique, because not only can you upgrade to output power in the bolts, you can absorb the abilities of your enemies into your memory by coming in contact with their main weapon for three seconds. After that, their power is stored in your cannon completely."  
"Impressive," Rock mused, a serious expression falling across his features.  
Zero was now eyeing the arsenal, and immediately chose his preference.  
"That one's good too," I added. "It's a very powerful dual saber/cannon weapon, but it doesn't have as many upgrades as Rock's yet. Instead, it does combination attacks of various power output and use of the saber."  
"Well now," Grandfather cut in with a hinting glance to me. "Would you two like to start getting the feel of them?" Both nodded, and I motioned to my tool table.  
  
Rock's cannon was a bit tricky to install, for I had to re-integrate some memory circuitry so that the weapon-absorption module didn't have as many relays to pass. It took around four hours to put into place, and I wiped the perspiration from my forehead just as the last wires were sealed. I pulled a damp strand of my brown hair back into place in the bun at the back of my head, and I blinked a few times from the bright lights of the lab.  
"There you go, Rock," I said at last, "Your new X-Buster."  
"You're the greatest, Sierra," he said graciously, giving me a sweet smile. I returned it tiredly, shooing him off so that I could work on Zero's weapon now.  
I rubbed my eyes before moving the red 'bots arm into place beneath the magnifier, blindly reaching for the wire-fuser. In my momentary weakness I did find the tool, however my fingers gripped the red-hot end.  
I jumped back, trying to hold back a scream of pain. I fell off my stool, clutching my hand as I lay sprawled on the ground. In the extremely fast process, I also managed to hit my head on the side of the lab table quite hard, giving me two things to cry about.  
"Sierra!" Zero exclaimed, dropping to a knee to help me up. At first I shied away, in too much pain to register anything but he persisted, drawing me into his lap and taking my injured fingers gingerly into his. He examined them for a moment, trying to be gentle as he lightly touched the burns. However the contact sent waves of pain into my brain, and I finally cried out while pounding my good hand on the metal floor once.  
"Stop that!" he commanded. "You'll hurt yourself again."  
I couldn't help it. I was too tired to think straight... I'd been up for over 72 hours working on assorted oddments, and now the weapons. I couldn't take it anymore... and I just broke down right there. Broke down and cried, burying my face in Zero's muscled chest. He didn't seem to understand my actions, but put an arm around me to hold me still while I sobbed. I clutched his shirt tightly in my uninjured hand, wiping my tears away roughly with the other.  
"I'm sorry," I murmured. "I'll get to work on your cannon now."  
He studied me a moment, his emerald eyes piercing my grey ones. "No," he said quietly.  
I looked at him in surprise. "What? Why not?"  
"No. You are not in any shape to complete the adjustments properly."  
"Gee, thanks a lot," I muttered, causing him to raise an eyebrow.  
"I intended no insult, Sierra," he replied matter-of-factly. "You have a burn that needs treatment, and damage to your head will not let you concentrate much." And with that, he scooped me up in his arms and began walking.  
"Wha-- ZERO! What are you doing!?"  
He looked at me again, this time with a half-confused expression crossing his handsome features... Wait a minute... handsome? I thought... What am I thinking? He's a robot! Well, he is pretty damn hot... for a machine, that is...  
"I am moving you to your living area, where you can rest for the remainder of the evening. Is this a problem?"  
"Er, well, no, I suppose not."  
  
A minute or so later I was carefully placed on my small bed in an even smaller room, which was littered with my tools and half-baked creations. Zero looked around curiously, poking one or two of my gadgets every now and then.  
"An interesting room," he stated. I managed a smile.  
"Yeah, guess it is..."  
"However, it is extremely small and enclosed."  
I didn't reply. He gazed at me again with those green, green eyes of his... Grandfather Light had designed him extremely well... I never would know that he wasn't human...  
His brow creased. "Why is it that Rock and myself have large rooms with many 'extra' things, while you stay here?"  
Still, I didn't respond. How could I explain to him that I really had no true home? That I didn't stay here all the time? I looked away from Zero, not wanting him to see the tears stinging my eyes again.  
Much to my dismay, he noticed. "Sierra, why do you cry again? Have I said something out of turn? I didn't intend to upset you." He sat down next to me, trying to peer into my face.  
"Zero... you didn't do anything wrong. I was just... remembering."  
Now thoroughly in the dark, his frown increased, and he raised a hand to wipe my silent tears away. The touch startled me, and I gazed back at him, amazed by the amount of concern on his face.  
"You... are different," he observed. "Like Rock and I, you don't fit with the rest of the world. I see that now, and I understand. I may have only been activated a day ago, but I understand this. I know that I can never fit in with humans... but it seems you cannot, either."  
There were no words to describe the next moment of silence. It was as if everything had frozen... and it was then that I realized... that I was falling in love with Zero. I was drowning in his emerald stare, adoring the human... yes; human... features of his face. I don't really know how it had happened, but I just knew right then and there that I loved him.  
"Zero..." I murmured.  
He responded with a small smile, then a stoic expression of masked confusion. "Sierra..." he said softly. "I think my emotional circuits are malfunctioning..."  
I giggled. "No, they aren't broken... tell me what you're thinking."  
"I... I feel happy... it's hard to describe. When I'm here, I only see you... nothing else is coming into my mind. I... I don't understand this emotion."  
I could cry. Right then, at those words, I really could have. I almost did, too... but something held the rivulets back. He loved me, too... I wanted so much to say something, but we merely continued to stare, and soon my eyes began to close. The lack of sleep was finally getting to me, and as much as I wanted to keep looking at him forever, the sandman was pulling me away.  
In my half-asleep state, I was still aware of Zero... and that he was moving closer to me. I felt a hand move to my neck, gently combing through my long tangled hair. Then I felt his cool breath on my face, causing my skin to tingle. I smiled for a moment, opening my eyes slightly... just in time to see him close his and brush his lips against mine. He barely touched them, as if he was experimenting.  
I sighed, and surprised him by leaning up slightly to kiss him back, reveling in the warmth of his lips. Zero just sat there a moment, then gave in, pulling me closer to him. My hands rested lightly on his shirt, and I felt his carefully sculpted (literally) muscles beneath it.   
Before I go on, I must explain something... yes, Zero and Rock are both robots... but their designs are extremely advanced and unique. They were built as machines, but also as humans. In a nutshell, Grandfather had developed superior technology that completely integrated cybernetic machinery with living tissue, thus creating a life form that was half-machine. Though their anatomy depended upon circuitry, they also could carry out all human anatomical functions, and they even had lungs and a heart (which pumped specially designed oil instead of normal blood). As for their brains, that all relies upon the chips that I installed right before Zero and Rock's activation.  
Indeed it was wonderful... as I was finding out now. Before, I only thought of them as machines. They still are... but they are also human-- experiencing emotion and in-depth thinking. And I loved it immensely.  
"Zero..." I whispered as the kiss finally broke, leaving both of us gasping for air. His head was angled down towards mine, his long blond bangs surrounding his face like a halo. He was beautiful.  
"Sierra," he said. "You have to rest now." And with that, he stepped to his feet easily and walked to the door. Just before switching off the light he turned to me for a second to smile, then left. I fell back against the pillows heavily, falling dead asleep with the warmth of his kiss still resting on my mouth.  
  
I awakened to an immense cold on my head, and I nearly jumped to my feet. Somehow I was held back down, and I opened my eyes groggily to see a figure in blue keeping me in a lying position.  
"Rock?" I grumbled sleepily, and I heard a chuckle.  
"Man, what'd 'ya do, Sierra?" asked the brown-haired 'bot in amusement. He replaced the ice pack on my head as soon as I had calmed down. "Zero told me you fell while trying to install his saber/cannon. Dr. Light's already patched up the burn on your hand, and said that it won't scar too badly. You really need to take better care of yourself, you know. I mean, jeez, you humans are funny! You slept for around three days!"  
"WHAT?" I exclaimed. "Three DAYS?" I was dumbfounded. How could I have slept that long? I had to get to work!  
"Whoa, there," Rock said in concern. "Don't start getting up just yet. That bump on your head was pretty bad. Hard to believe, huh? And the Doc says you haven't been sleeping all that well anyway. You okay now?"  
I laughed. Even though Rock and Zero were created from the same designs, I still remained surprised by the vast difference in their personalities. Even though I enjoyed Rock's company and humor, he was much like a brother to me whereas Zero's quiet and contemplative attitude intrigued and attracted me.  
"I think I'll be okay, thanks Rock." His grin widened, sapphire eyes almost lighting up in delight. Then his expression slid into one that was halfway serious, the warm smile turning into a half-smirk.  
"Ya know, Zero's been worried sick about you."  
I started at the comment. "He has?"  
"Oh yeah," he replied, shrugging. "The first morning after you hit your head he came in to get you for breakfast, and you wouldn't wake up. He got a bit freaked out and practically dragged Dr. Light in here to find out what was wrong. It took some time to reassure him, but he still stayed in here for who-knows-how-long, just sitting right next to you. It was kinda cute, but I guess we were all very worried for a while!"  
I giggled. Cute? Zero wouldn't like to hear that! But, at the same time I was deeply touched by what Rock had told me. I would have to thank Zero once I had the chance...  
"Anyway, here's some soup and a pill for the pain. I figured you'd need them."  
"Oh! Thanks, Rock. I appreciate that."  
He smiled again. "Oh, no problem! What are friends for, huh? Oh, by the way," he added pensively. "Could ya let me know when you get Zero's saber/cannon installed? I'd like to spar with him some before Wily decides to attack, know what I mean?"  
"Sure, Rock, no problems there! I should be up and about by tomorrow..."  
"No rush, though, girl. You need to rest."  
I smiled. "Yeah, yeah, I know."  
"He's right, though, Sierra," said a voice from the door. "You need to rest more."  
Rock and I turned to see Zero in the doorway, with Grandfather Light peeking over his shoulder. Rock got to his feet, smirking again.  
"Hey, Zero! I was just leaving... oh, there you are, Doc! I need you to help me with my optical circuits... I think there's a glitch..."  
"Yes, but..." Grandfather stammered as he was being dragged away by the blue 'bot, extremely confused. Zero watched them leave with a raised eyebrow, and sent me an amused glance before occupying the chair where Rock had sat before.  
"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly, his attention now completely on me.  
I gave him a smile. "Better... Zero?"  
"Mm?"  
"Did you really stay here while I slept?"  
He was silent, studying me as he appeared to like doing. "Yes," he replied, even quieter than before. His voice rumbled like distant thunder, deep and rich. "I... had to."  
"Had to?" I was slightly puzzled.  
Instead of replying he leaned forward to kiss me, one hand caressing my face tenderly. My arms wound themselves around his neck, playing in his ponytail of long golden hair.  
It was too soon that he broke away, gazing down at me with mixed emotions, love and relief being most dominant. "Yes," he whispered. "I HAD to, Sierra... this feeling... I still don't understand it! What are you doing to me?" He growled low in his throat, his perfect features hardening into a deep frown.  
"No..." I chided as I stroked his cheek. "Don't do that... don't scowl. I never meant to make you feel so strangely."  
"It's too late now..."  
Before I could ask what he meant I felt the softest of butterfly kisses on my chin, then my neck. I gasped in surprise, then closed my eyes to enjoy it.  
"Zero..."  
He raised his face to meet mine, our foreheads pressing together. I could feel his breath on my lips, which were trembling in anticipation for we were so close. I lightly nipped at his bottom lip playfully, and giggled as I saw his eyes widen. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but I cut him off by nipping him again, then lightly sucking on his lip.  
"Sierra..." he growled, and proceeded to kiss me so hard I was breathless in seconds. I pulled back as much as I could, pushing against the pillows for air. He let me back, and as soon as I had inhaled deeply he kissed me again, quicker and deeper.   
"Zero..." I gasped between kisses. "Do you... love... me?"  
He growled again. "Do... I have... to answer that? What do... you think?" He pulled away slowly, sitting back down in his chair. My lip jutted out slightly in disappointment, but I relaxed so that I could catch my breath. Human or not... Zero sure could kiss...  
"Eat now," he said firmly, bringing me out of my thoughts. "There's been suspicion that Wily is on the move, and you need your strength if that happens."  
"Wily? But it's been years since the last attack!" I sputtered. The last thing I wanted was to face that madman again. It frightened me to think of what he could do after so much time.  
Zero's face remained set in stone. As if reading my mind he voiced my concerns, "That is more than enough time to regroup and create a new plan. And I think that I know what he will be after."  
I was puzzled. "What?"  
A sigh came from him. "Sierra, think about it. He too was working to create a perfect robot... and now that Rock and I are activated, he'll want us for his own uses."  
I gasped. It made perfect sense! Rock and Zero were made to be humans, but also as machines to fight Wily! And if Wily got his grimy paws on them... he'd... I couldn't stand to think of what could happen. I felt a burning in my eye from threatening tears, but I rubbed them away quickly. But Zero, quick as ever, did not fail to notice.  
"Don't worry, Sierra. He won't get us. I promise you." He rose to his feet. "I have to go help Dr. Light and Rock with some stuff. You should eat your soup and sleep some more. I'll be back later." Giving me a small smile, he left, but somehow I felt that he wasn't telling me everything when he mentioned Wily.  
Doing as I was asked, the soup was gone in minutes, and I downed the aspirin Rock had given me with a long gulp of water. Then I picked up one of my schematics for Rock and Zero and proceeded to study them until I fell fast asleep once again.  
  



	3. Thoughts and Premonitions

Chapter 3: Thoughts and Premonitions  
Author's Note: I forgot to mention that there would be cursing. Sorry everyone! This chapter will go into Sierra's mind... and reveal some of her story.  
  
The next day, as promised to Rock, I half-dragged my butt out of bed to install Zero's saber/cannon. I'll say this... I really was feeling better, but Zero wasn't all that convinced about it. He was almost paranoid, and insisted on handing me my tools so that I didn't burn myself again. It was sweet, but it made things a lot slower while working.  
The installation was finally complete in mid-afternoon, and Rock and Zero used the time after I finished to spar in a mostly-empty part of the lab. As I watched the two fight I noticed that they were reluctant to let out their full power because of all the delicate equipment of the lab.  
Hmm... I thought. I need to design a training room for them, one strong enough to withstand both of them at full power. That way no one or nothing gets hurt or broken into tiny charred pieces! With that in mind, I set to work on the blueprints.  
I didn't know how much time had passed since I had begun, but much later on I felt two armored arms surround my waist, startling me. I jumped, but the arms held softly firm as they turned me 'round. Sighing, I leaned into Zero's embrace.  
"You scared me..." I muttered.  
He grinned from beneath his helmet, emerald eyes sparkling. "Sorry. What are you doing?"  
"Oh, just some things to help you and Rock train in a better environment."  
"Do you know what time it is, Sierra?"  
"Er, no... I don't. What time IS it?"  
His grin widened a bit. "Let's just say that you missed dinner and then some."  
I looked at the chrono on my desk and groaned. "Aw, man! I've been working for eight hours! I can't believe it... well, I'll just finish these plans then I'll--"  
"Oh, no you don't!" The red robot shook his head slowly, silencing me. His long golden hair flowed out behind him like a cape to his red and white armor, and I admired the way it accented his well-built body.  
Before I could say another word he had swung me over his shoulder and started unceremoniously carrying me to my room. I shrieked in surprise and pounded on his back... which was a mistake for I had forgotten that the armor was non-denting steel!  
He laughed then, for the first time ever. It was deep like his voice, but with a somewhat songlike quality to it. To my surprise I joined in his laughter, up until I was dumped onto my bed none too gently.  
"Ow," I whined. "Watch the head, Zero... that hurt!" I touched the bruise gingerly, then felt him sit down next to me and put a gloved hand over mine.  
"It's very late," he said simply. "Sleep." And so I did, with him watching over me.  
  
Sigh. I realize that much hasn't happened... but I felt that soon something would happen. I could feel it in my bones that Wily would come... I just knew it. Grandfather had told me no to believe such nonsense, but it's a weird feeling that I couldn't shake. And the fact that I understood that Zero wasn't telling me something made the whole thing worse. Rock, bless him, may have known something, but he covered the whole thing up with jokes and smiles.  
Somehow within all of this I found some serenity while working on the training room. The blueprints were now complete, the parts ordered, and now all I had to do was build it. I worked long and tireless hours now... from about seven in the morning to midnight. Either Rock or Grandfather brought me my meals (which I often didn't eat if I was in the middle of something) and Zero always had to drag me away from my table at night so that I could get some sleep.  
Sometimes I would get so caught up with what I was doing that I would sneak out of bed after pretending to sleep. After about a week of this (as well as dropping a large piece of metal that sounded in a huge 'clang' through the whole house and lab), the ever-perceptive red robot caught on. Since that day he 'slept' in my room, sitting in a chair beside my bed so he could keep an eye on me. Nothing I would do could get him out... and while it was all for my own good, I had quickly become annoyed of it. So, instead of rebelling and trying to fight the sandman every night I relented and let myself sleep.  
Days flew by, then weeks. The training room was nearly complete, but I often had to do heavy repairs because the 'bots were too impatient to wait another month or so. I guess I could understand their reasoning. By that time, rumors of Wily turning up again had spread like wildfire, and everyone in the Light household became increasingly edgy. My only response to this stress was work, work, work, then sleep, sleep, and more sleep. Oh, and some eating in there too. I really had no free time to do anything, and even my few moments with Zero became even fewer. I believe I had to be carried once in a while back to my room after dozing at my worktable by Rock, for Zero had been still training.  
The skills of the 'bots had improved greatly since they were able to 'use' the large, round training room. It had robot drones that fired plasma bolt, and I had programmed surprise obstacles or hidden rooms to appear with new targets. (AN: sounds like Vegeta's gravity room, huh? I kinda got an idea from that and 'built' upon it, hee hee.) They appeared to enjoy it immensely, and Rock was sure to tell me so at every chance he got. I was happy to get the praise, but it ran hollow in my ears. Would it be enough to stop Wily once and for all? Or were we just flattering ourselves with false hope?  
Yes, I'm sure it sounds pessimistic, but when your family's been killed by a heartless maniac wit no sense of the value of human life, it changes you. As it has changed me... I have little to live for now. I have so little anyway... what difference would it make to anybody if I wasn't there.  
I sat at my desk one day pondering this... thinking of the past. I found it too much to concentrate, so I got up and walked outside. It appeared as if I had worked late again, for the sun was nearly set and the stars were peeking out from beyond lavender and pink clouds in a darkening sky. I spotted the old tree I loved to climb as a little girl; an old oak with sturdy branches and large jeweled green leaves that were soft to the touch. Walking over to it I ran my hand across the rough bark. On impulse, I dug my hands into some of the surface grooves and swiftly made my way to the tallest branches over a hundred feet up. Luckily I was petite enough for the tree to support my weight, and I stood to face the wind so that it flowed through my light brown hair. I closed my eyes, reveling in that simple moment in time.  
Every time when I was I child I climbed this tree at every opportunity, enjoying the feel of spending hours watching the sky, the clouds the stars. It was this comfort that I lost myself in now, forgetting Wily, the robots, and Grandfather. Instead, I thought of my long-gone parents. How Mother would shriek every time she saw me up here, begging me to come down for fear of my falling and breaking something. How Father would grin and wave to me while calming Mother down. He had always offered to build me a treehouse up here, but I never got the chance to see it... for Wily had slain he and Mother both before he could build it.  
Wily again. That bastard would pay someday. I wanted so badly to see him suffer, preferably by my own hand, but that was impossible. With the aid of his creations he was nearly untouchable. I remembered clearly the last time I had seen him. His beady yellow eyes glazed with madness, long and crazy gray hair splaying out in all directions like a demonic version of Einstein. But what had caught my attention most was the expression on his face as he killed my parents. Glee. Excitement. The bastard had enjoyed doing it! I seethed with anger once again at the memory. At that time, a small robot had restrained me, and I was only six or seven years of age.  
That was twelve years ago. I had grown since then, but the hate still lay embedded within my heart. Now, it was surfacing again just as Wily himself seemed to be.  
  
Some time later I was gazing at the Sagittarius constellation up in the heavens dreamily, wishing that someday I could travel the stars. A silly thought, perhaps, but I know that many share my dream. The feeling of being free, flying through the heavens without a care in the world was tempting, but also frustrating in that it could never happen in my lifetime. Perhaps in future generations humans will be able to traipse the galaxy in graceful ships that could jump from one point to another in mere seconds. I smiled. If there was such a thing as future life and reincarnation, maybe I actually could see my dream through.  
"Sierra! Sierra!"  
I nearly fell in surprise, but I caught myself barely in time. Standing up to see who it was that was bothering me, I saw a figure emerge from the house. Hearing the rustle of branches he turned then ran up to the old tree. In the moonlight I saw a brief flash of red; Zero.  
"Sierra!" he called again. "I've been looking for you! What the heck are you doing up there?" I could tell he was angry, for I saw his arms cross and his features lined with fading worry.  
I sighed. "I'm thinking! What do you want?"  
"Well, it's kind of late, don't you think, to be doing that?" he called gruffly.  
I started to speak as I balanced on the branch and walked out on it some. I saw him tense, his eyes flashing in concern.  
"Whoa! Sierra! Don't do that-- that limb doesn't look all that stable! You'd better get down!"  
"Don't tell me what to do, Zero!" I snapped at him. "I'm perfectly fine," I shook the wood with my feet so that it swayed some, "see?" The wood creaked and shifted beneath my weight, and I laughed. He was looking very nervous now, and looked ready to jump up the tree so he could bring me back down again.  
I laughed again, but stopped short when I heard a crack! I whirled around to see a few splinters of wood fly into the air. Uh-oh...  
"Dammit, Sierra!" he shouted, and started to climb up the tree. It looked almost comical to see him try to scale the huge tree, but I hardly noticed as I tried to inch back to the trunk where it was safe. However the branch had other ideas as it groaned and cracked some more. I froze. That wasn't good. I heard Zero faintly muttering under his breath as he scaled the last few feet of the oak.  
"Come on," he snapped, one arm held out to me from his perch. I shook my head slowly, seeing how far it was to him. Getting a little frightened; I cursed at myself as my legs began to shake violently. Every time I get scared that happens, and this really wasn't a good time...  
"Sierra," he said, quieter this time. "It's okay. Just jump and I'll catch you."  
I couldn't do it. I simply couldn't. So, so far away...  
A louder crack. I could tell Zero was freaking out too, but tried valiantly to hide it. I was shaking so much now that I started slipping. I stood there trying to balance myself, but to no avail. At last I began falling... falling... I held my arms out wildly, and somehow grasped the branch just in time. I felt the bark of the oak dig into my skin, heard Zero curse again. I looked up at the base of the limb, saw that it was hanging by a few splinters, then looked at Zero. He didn't try to hide his fear now, for there I was clinging to a breaking branch a hundred or so feet from the ground.  
"Stupid, stupid, stupid..." I whispered again and again while holding on for dear life. I was at a loss for what to do, for I knew that if I dropped down no I would surely break something... if only I had hover boots or something to cushion my fall, but Rock and Zero didn't even have those!  
"Hang on!" he shouted to me as he tried to get down. Apparently he'd wanted to get under my position so that he could catch me, but as the tree started swaying again he realized that it wasn't such a great idea. His brow furrowed in frantic concentration, and I watched him as he did so. Suddenly his face went even more serious as he went into a pre-pounce position. An instant later he was flying at me through the branches, just as the limb I was hanging from gave way. His momentum carried him to me quickly, and I clung to him as we neared the ground. I felt one arm circle my small waist, then heard a blast of plasma. Suddenly we were rolling on the ground, then stopped. I lay sprawled on top of him, hands clutching at his crimson armor; he'd been training. I was panting from dispelled fear and panic, relief flooding through me with the adrenaline.  
I heard Zero flinch, groan, then ask, "Are you all right?"  
I couldn't lie if I'd wanted to. I could feel every muscle erupt with pain, and I knew that the old and dried branches of the oak had scratched me up quite a bit. I didn't answer him at first not only because I was in pain, but also because I was afraid of how furious he would be with me.  
"Are you all right?" he asked again, lifting my face up with his free hand, for the other still encircled my waist. I looked down at him sadly, trying to prevent the tears of pain and apology. I looked away thinking he was terribly angry, but then I felt the hand on my face bring my head down to his armored chest, stroking my long hair. He held me tightly, and suddenly I couldn't take it any more. Wily, my parents, nearly falling from the tree... these and other painful memories flowed into my head, and I broke down right there. I cried on Zero's chest uncontrollably, and hardly noticed when he pressed the button on his glove to turn his armor into a sweatshirt and jeans.  
"Shh..." he murmured soothingly. "It's okay now, Sierra. You're all right."  
No! No, it wasn't! I wasn't all right... and his kindness was making it all worse... I sobbed harder, burying my face within his shirt. He fell silent for a long time, up until my tears had slowed greatly. Then he lifted my face up again to gaze into my eyes. I found a little comfort in his emerald orbs, but the tenderness in them made me want to cry again.  
"No, no," he said, sitting up. He flinched after doing so, softly hissing with pain, and I felt al the worse for harming him.  
"I'm so sorry..." I sobbed.  
"For what? It's nothing... a night in my stasis chamber can't fix... auto-repair will have it done in no time."  
"No... that's not what I--" but he cut me off, placing his lips on mine. I stiffened, then fell limp against him. Tears threatened me once more, but he gently pushed them away with his thumbs.  
"Don't cry," he said. "It hurts me to see you like that...  
"You frightened me so much," he went on. "I felt so helpless, and I was afraid you'd get hurt or worse... I... dammit..." He tightened his hold around me, not needing to finish with words.  
  
An hour or so later Zero and I were still outside on the grass, but I was pointing out all of the constellations and telling the Greek myths that they originated in.  
"See that cluster? If you look, you'll see that it resembles a winged horse-- It's called Pegasus. The story is that Pegasus was one of many winged horses that were soon slain and killed for sport, and he was the last. Then a young man named Bellerophon sought him out to tame him. With the help of the goddess of wisdom, Athena, he succeeded, but became so arrogant and proud over his achievement that he wanted to go to the mountain of the gods, Olympus. However when he used Pegasus to try and reach Olympus, Pegasus threw him off out of respect for the gods, killing him.  
"Pegasus, who was heartbroken at the loss of Bellerophon, flew higher and higher until he could fly no more. But instead of plummeting down to the earth, the gods pitied the poor creature and sealed him up into the heavens where he could fly forever searching for his lost master, Bellerophon."  
Zero was silent for a time, taking in my words slowly. "That is sad..." he murmured finally. "To have someone you love be taken from you so suddenly, and you can't say goodbye."  
I stared down at his serene features, studying the slightly pointed nose, emerald eyes and strong angular chin. "Yes," I agreed. "It's a hard thing to deal with. I envy Pegasus, to fly forever up in the sky."  
"It seems that that story describes you, Sierra."  
"What makes you say that?" I dared not meet his gaze, for I knew that he knew he was right.  
"I know that you lost someone very dear to you and you carry that pain wherever you go. I see it every time you look at me... a shadow of sorrow beneath a mask."  
  



	4. The Return of Wily

Chapter Four: The Return of Wily  
  
"I know that you lost someone very dear to you and you carry that pain wherever you go. I see it every time you look at me... a shadow of sorrow beneath a mask."  
  
I choked. How could he see that so clearly? I hadn't known him all that long-- and already he could see through me? It was a direct hit to my pride, but he never ceased to amaze me in what he knew. But how could he understand if I told him? Would he care?  
Yes. Another look into his deep eyes told me the truth. He truly did care, as no one had done for twelve years. He wanted to listen... even Grandfather couldn't do that... for his own pain was too great.  
"I don't know how I know..." he added, "but something tells me you've been alone for a long time."  
"Yes," I respond at last. "A very long time..." but I could say no more right then, and Zero understood. I knew because he didn't press me, or urge me to go on. He would give me my space when I wanted it, and stay close when I needed him most. But right now, I needed him near me, like he was now.  
Without warning I kissed him, drowning in my love of him. Zero readily returned my advance, tilting his head towards mine. I nibbled on his lower lip, and he smiled.  
As a surprise of his own he gently settled me down back onto the ground, and settled his weight over me. He took a moment to break away and grin at me, touching his nose to mine. Then he kissed me again, harder and more passionately. My hands moved to encircle his neck, playing in his long ponytail.  
"You're mine..." he promised as he caressed my swollen lips. "No one will ever take you away from me, Sierra... because... I..."  
"What's THIS?" came an unknown voice some feet away. Zero's face snapped up, and he growled viciously. I sat up slightly, and gasped at the one staring at us in a mix of surprise and disgust.  
"How could you?!" demanded the intruder to Zero loudly. "Showing emotions to a weak human! How embarrassing!"  
"Who the hell are you?" Zero snarled, making sure to get between the other and me.  
The intruder snorted. "It seems I must introduce myself, brother. I am Protoman."  
"What kind of a lame-brained name is that? And what the hell do you mean by 'brother'?" Zero leered. 'Protoman' had grey armor covering his body, with red boots, gloves and matching helmet. Covering his eyes was a dark visor, and around his neck a yellow scarf was tied. He was a bit shorter that Zero, but taller than I was. Though I couldn't really see hi face through the visor and dim moonlight, I could tell that he was no friend of ours. But... a robot?  
It had to be! And if it wasn't one of Grandfather's... it was...  
"Zero!" I said in surprise. "He's one of Dr. Wily's robots!"  
"Perceptive, for a human." Protoman's leer grew, and Zero tensed in front of me. In a flash, he activated his armor, and aimed his plasma cannon.  
"You stay away from her."  
The enemy robot pouted mockingly. "Aww... I can't play with your pet human? Well fine then," he drew his own cannon. "I'll play with you!" He fired. Yellow radiation came flowing from the weapon, streaking right at Zero and I. With a shout he shoved me out of the way and fired a shot of his own.  
There was an explosion as the two bolts collided, and the brightness of it blinded me. I could hear Protoman's deep laughter as well as Zero's cursing, and as my vision cleared I saw that our enemy was powering up again.  
"Sierra," Zero hissed quickly while not losing contact with Protoman. "Get out of here, NOW... find Dr. Light and get out!"  
"Nope, sorry Red," said someone from behind us. "She ain't going anywhere!" I whirled around just in time to see a very tall black, yellow and red robot with a construction hat on his head grab me by the arms. This 'bot wasn't even remotely human-- clearly all-machine and inferior design. Even so... it hurt when he grabbed me!  
"Zero!" I exclaimed. The dulled pain from the fall from the oak tree came back, now intensified by my captor's unmerciful hold.  
Now Zero whirled, and I saw murder in his eyes as he leveled his cannon.  
"I wouldn't do that, brother!" called Protoman from behind. "If you shoot Gutsman, you shoot the pretty human! Hey, I've got no problem with that, so go ahead and shoot! Get rid of her!"  
"In your dreams, buck-o!" I shouted, snarling. In response Protoman nodded, and Gutsman twisted my arms behind my back. I resisted, twisting my face into a contorted grimace so that I wouldn't cry out, but the rivers of pain became so great that I screamed as loudly as I could despite my attempts to not do so.   
Hot tears stung my eyes as I locked gazes with Zero, but as I tried to give him a weak smile of reassurance Gutsman twisted again. I saw the fury radiating from the red robot, his green eyes glittering in barely controllable rage from behind his helmet.  
Protoman laughed hysterically at the situation, and added to the tension further with his next words. "This is great! I wonder if Dr. Wily and the others are having this much fun with that fool doctor Light!"  
Just then an explosion erupted from the lab in a small mushroom cloud. I screamed again. And this time the tears were not restrained. I thought of Grandfather, how he was the last living relative I'd had... and what of Rock? Gone as well... it couldn't be happening! Damn Wily! Damn his robots!  
"I HATE YOU!" I screeched at the top of my lungs. With newfound energy fueled by my own rage I kicked at Gutsman's legs at the knees. Having taken him by surprise the burly 'bot was knocked over, loosening his grip on me just enough so I could free myself. Zero hurried over to me in two strides, converting his cannon into a six-foot, green plasma sword that highlighted his furious features to the point that he looked like a devil, accented by the demonic style of his red helmet. Standing right beside me to make sure I wasn't grabbed again Zero swung his blade at Gutsman, first taking his metal head off and a second swipe across the torso for good measure.  
Sparks enveloped the fallen 'bot, and one of the arms kept twitching until finally falling still. Deactivated and out of commission.  
"How... how dare you!" Protoman bellowed. "Gutsman! Oh, you're going to get it, Red! Wily's going to blow a fuse over this!"  
"That's not all he's going to blow once I'm through with him... but you first!" Zero charged at the remaining robot with lightning speed, his green blade blazing across the grass. He swung like a madman with precision to the micrometer but just in time Protoman jumped out of the way.  
"Nice try! But not good enough!" The red and grey 'bot chuckled menacingly, and kneed Zero in the gut as he flew by.  
"Zero!" I gasped as he fell, clutching his stomach. I struggled to get up, to crawl to him... but I could not. I could only watch Protoman kick him again, then begin to power up his cannon.  
"ZERO! GET UP!" I yelled, sobbing. "DON'T LEAVE ME!"  
"Si... erra..." he choked loudly as he tried to sit up. Protoman laughed again, causing the fallen warrior to snap back into reality.  
"Hah... first I kill you, then I get to blast your pet human into a bloody mess!"  
"You won't... touch her..." he growled viciously, glaring at him and getting to his feet.  
"Sorry, brother! But it looks like you won't be able to help her any! Just to show my sincerity, I'll prove it!" he leveled his cannon right at me and I froze, knowing that this was the end for me... I closed my eyes and heard the crackle of electricity... the mingling of ozone in the cool night air...  
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" I heard Zero scream.  
Protoman fired.  
  
I heard the bolt streaking through the air as I lay in defeat on the ground. A tear stung my eye while I prayed that my suffering would not last...  
I felt something enormous and hard hit me head-on, throwing me backward into the grass. I felt a heaviness over my body, but no pain or anything... I open my eyes, only to gasp in horror.  
"Oh my god!" Zero is atop me, a hole in the back of his armor sizzling, sparking and smoking from the hit... from the hit he took for me...   
"No! Wake up, Zero! Please!"  
He opens his beautiful emerald eyes for me, is handsome features outlined in agony. He smiles feebly, trying in vain to breathe steady from his shock.  
"Sierra... you... all right...?"  
"Yes!" I whispered. "Yes... but you..."  
"Will... fine... auto... repair... still function..."  
"Ssh..." I hushed him with a finger on his lips. "Don't talk..."  
"No... Protoman will... kill you... run... now... I love..."  
Suddenly he fell forward and collapsed above me, and didn't move. I shook him desperately to awaken him, tears flowing into my eyes.  
"Pfft. That weakling was beginning to annoy me!" came the sinister voice of Protoman. I sat up, cradling Zero in my arms as I glared daggers at the oppressor.  
"You killed him, you... monster! DAMN YOU!" My hands curled into fists while I ignored the pain it caused me.  
"No I didn't," he countered with a leer. "It was a low energy blast. He's only knocked out. As it turns out Wily wants me to bring you to him... alive. Isn't that right, Doc?"  
"Quite right, Protoman..." that voice. The voice that has haunted my nightmares, whose hellish and demonic laughter sounded at the point my parent's hearts were ripped from their bodies for me to see. I have never forgotten that voice that let me live as an example for Grandfather... the one who built horrible war machines to help in his takeover of the world... Dr. Wily.  
"You..." I spat in the utmost hate and disgust. The old man mimicked Protoman's leer.  
"Yes... the little girl has grown up, hasn't she? And has quite a reputation I hear... isn't that right?" I didn't respond, and his devil's grin widened. "Ah, a silent one. Good. You will be perfect..."  
"I'll never do anything you say, you murdering bastard..."  
"Ah, ah, ah... that's no such talk for a lady..." he shook a knotted and crooked finger at me. "Come along now and we won't hurt you."  
"No," I said flatly. Wily nodded, and Protoman began to walk towards me. I got up to my wobbling feet and began to run as fast as my legs could carry me. But I heard a whoosh behind me, and suddenly I was grabbed from behind. I fell to my knees in the darkness, my knees scraping against the green grass and soft soil. My arms were twisted behind my back as Gutsman had previously done, but this grip was more confident, arrogant.  
"Pretty little thing, aren't ya?" Protoman sneered as he held me. I kicked his foot, but he didn't budge.  
"Sorry sweetheart... I'm not a stupid as old Gutsman. Sadly enough he didn't have enough brain chips to begin with!" He laughed, causing me to shudder.  
"Take her back to the ship... and make sure she doesn't cause any trouble!" Wily ordered, and the last thing I knew was something hitting the back of my head...  
  



	5. Sorrow and Despair

Chapter Five: Sorrow and Despair  
  
"Take her back to the ship... and make sure she doesn't cause any trouble!" Wily ordered, and the last thing I knew was something hitting the back of my head...  
***  
(AN: Okay... now that 'I' am knocked out, I've decided to let some other characters have a part in this... first person's a difficult thing to do through the entire story... it leaves out quite a bit! See if you can guess who each one is :))  
***  
Rubble. That was all I could see... just rubble. Rocks, machinery and even my own 'blood' were everywhere. The devastation was immense... but at least I could keep them from going too far into the enormous lab. Only a portion of it had been destroyed, but there was enough to keep us repairing for weeks...  
I can see my 'father' stirring some feet away, for the most part unharmed. It was I who received most of the damage, but fortunately my armor was strong enough to deflect quite a bit. The sky- and midnight-blues of it were caked in mud, blood and covered in scratches.  
We never knew it had been coming so soon... Doctor Light, Zero and myself were fully aware of the sightings of Wily, and what they were after, but it seemed as if he were growing too strong, too fast. Suddenly a crash had sounded in the lab, and as I was first to the scene I witnessed the forced entry of three figures... a human I presumed was Wily, an orange robot with what looked like a pair of scissors on his head... Cutman was his name? I can't remember... and the other left just after the wall blew up... red and grey with a yellow scarf... Damn. How did they find us so quickly?  
I had done the best I could to fight... I think I injured Super-Scissors or whatever his name was... a good shot with my X-Buster was enough to send him flying out of the hole from which he'd entered. Wily fled shortly after, leaving me to tend to Light.   
I hoped dearly for the safety of Sierra... but with Zero she should be all right... right? Right...?  
I had to find out, but my first priority right then was to Dr. Light. He awakened slowly, rubbing his head and removing it in horror to find blood where a piece of flying shrapnel had struck him down. I hurried to his side to help him up. He looked around wildly once to his feet, and I understood. With a questioning and fearful glance to me, I nodded and left him to look for the others.  
  
It was darker outside than it seemed... and I could hardly see a thing. I called out quietly, careful to not alert anything dangerous that might have been lingering behind to finish me off. I don't think Wily was too happy that I had disabled one of his little toys, for I saw that the robot's body was not where I had seen it fly.  
In my frustration I tripped over something, and heard a low moan. Whirling around I looked down only to find Zero lying there!  
"Zero! What happened!? I demanded of him. He seemed to be hurt pretty bad, but his auto-repair systems were functioning normally for I could see the microcircuits fixing themselves much like human cells do, but at a faster rate.  
"Sierra... they took her, Rock... she's..." he choked, "she's... gone... damn Wily... I'll kill him with my bare hands..."  
"Easy now Zero... don't get riled up!" I scolded, lending an arm to help him up. Once that was accomplished I began walking him back to the lab. He was in quite a state... denial and guilt, probably. The poor guy... I couldn't help but share his pain, for I couldn't save Sierra either. Hell, thanks to Wily, I couldn't even get to her at all!  
"No... I failed, Rock... I couldn't protect her... damn it all! I couldn't... now she's gone... and it's all my fault..."  
"Stop that, Zero! You're acting like she's dead! We can get her back, Zero!" I half-shouted at the guy. I think the shock was just too much for him, but I really wanted him to shut up about it.  
"Now come on, let's get you patched up. Then we can figure out how to rescue Sierra, all right?" he seemed somewhat satisfied with that, so he fell silent and began to lean on his own strength some. Together we walked back to the lab without a sound, save for our metal boots crunching the grass and light breathing.  
***  
I am aware of myself walking, an arm around Rock for support, but I feel nothing. Only emptiness fills my mechanical heart. Nothing else is left there...  
It was at first a frightening feeling I had when I had first met Sierra. A strange sensation pulling at the wires of my heart (metaphorically, of course) became known to me when I had first set eyes on her.  
As the days, then weeks passed I still had not grown accustomed to this feeling, and it only left me at ease when I was around Sierra. There was one day that I had... I had kissed her, and she asked me if I loved her. Love... was that what I felt? The immense drawing to another person that binds you together? The wanting to be around that person all the time, and the sorrow when they're... taken away?  
If this was what love was, then did I love her? Yes. Yes. I had to be around her all the time... and when I wasn't I was training to protect her. But it seemed as if it wasn't enough... for how had it left me? Alone... empty and alone.  
I remembered her haunting blue eyes... the ones that held an immense loss that could not be easily faded. I recalled her hair, her lips. The very thought of them sent waves of self-hate through me. What would Wily do to her? If he so much as harmed a single hair on her head... I would personally ensure that he would forever be tortured, for that as well as for whatever he had done to her years ago.  
Not even Dr. Light talks about that... what happened long before our construction and activation. I once asked him, and he stared at me with a sort of far-off look with tears stinging his old eyes. He gruffly turned away then, and made me promise to never bring it up around Sierra... ever. What had Wily done... one day, I swore I would find out... and he would pay dearly.  
Not only he; his creations would suffer as well. Especially Protoman... the one who did this to me. I made the vow deep within myself. He will pay...  
***  
Rock brought Zero in as gently as he could, and amidst intermingled pain and frustration I saw with pride that the auto-repairs were working beautifully. His circuits were already halfway back to normal, and with some of my help and a new armor refit he would be good as new. I motioned to Rock to place the red robot onto the nearby lab table, which was covered with stone and wires. I quickly attempted to remove the debris, but Rock brushed it away easily before I could even get there. Such magnificent designs... but I never could have done it without my dear granddaughter, Sierra. She was truly the brilliant mind behind much of their designs, including the brain chips.  
"Is she...?" I asked of the two robots, and the brunette blue one shook his head somberly. I could see Zero flinch as he sat on the table, but I could not tell if it was from the pain of his injuries or the mention of Sierra. Though I thought it extraordinarily unusual for the cybernetic being to be 'in love' with her, I did not dispute it. Though I may be naïve still in my old age I understand love. I can see it in Zero's eyes when he sees Sierra every day... I can see how much they're together, or want to be.  
And now, I can see Zero's pain. Yes. Even a cybernetic... even they can know love. It is that pain that gives me comfort, for I know the rage underlying the sorrow, the rage that will not stop until my granddaughter is back with us. I know Wily won't kill her. She's too valuable to him for that.  
There is much I never told her... how it was indeed Wily that had stolen the original brain chips. He had also stolen my old blueprints and prototype... years ago, only months before my son and his wife were murdered.  
  
I worked on Zero's armor and healing circuitry for an hour or two, and by that time the sun was beginning to rise. I looked out one of the many windows in the lab... Sierra had insisted on them so that the harsh lab lights did not ruin our eyes as much. She always did enjoy the sunlight and the light of the moon and the stars even more so.  
"I will get her back, Doctor," vowed Zero from his position on the table. "It was my fault, and I swear that this will not go unpunished." I look at him, startled that he awakened without my knowledge. Rock stirred as well, and gave me a weary smile and Zero a grin.  
"No," contradicted the blue robot. "We will get her back. But you need to get off your rear and train first, Zero! It's not gonna help Sierra any if we just sit on our butts and worry, then get 'em whipped again."  
"What was that?" the red robot snapped, instantly jumping to his feet. "I DARE you to say that again, Rock!!"   
"Wanna settle this? Most of the training room is still intact..."  
"You're on, Blue Boy! I'll kick your ass!"  
"I'd love to see you try, Red!" The two walked in the general direction of the training room that Sierra built for them on the other side of the laboratory.  
They were quite a pair, really. Rock's playfulness contrasting to Zero's calm stoicism seemed to bond them together in an unbreakable friendship, and I knew that they would do anything for Sierra. My aging heart filled with hope then at that thought. Just you wait, Wily, I thought to myself, allowing a twinkle in my eye. You'll be in for the surprise of your life when those two face off against you and your evil creations! So help me God, you will pay for all you've done, for everyone you've hurt!  
  



	6. Secrets

Chapter Six: Secrets  
AUTHORS NOTE: Hey, everyone! Thanks to the people who have reviewed so far! It's really great to know that my work is good reading! Keep reviewing! Hee hee. The first part of this chapter goes back to Sierra's POV, then it switches to another... unexpected character this time.  
  
I awakened in a darkened room on a hard cot with no pillow. My head is pounding... I'm pretty sure that Protoman knocked it real good and left quite a mark...   
As my head clears I suddenly realize where I must be... and that I was not at all around the friendly types of people... or robots, for that matter. The room was extremely small, and when I stood up there was no more than three inches of space until one hit ceiling. It appeared as though they were prepared for me, for the only furniture beside the cot was an even less inviting worktable with tiny lamp.  
"Ah... so the brilliant one has come to..." said a voice I knew too well.  
"What do you want from me, Wily?" I demanded in the dim lights, turning around and around to find him. "Why am I here?"  
A hidden monitor suddenly popped to life in one of the walls of the room, showing Albert Wily's ugly and misshapen face and wild white and grey hair.  
"Oh... I'm hurt that you can't figure that little thing out..." he taunted me, gesturing to the worktable. Glaring, I walked over to the table to glance quickly at the blueprints and parts. I recognize the layouts of Zero and Rock's designs, as well as a pair of chips inside glass vials. My eyes widened in recognition of the hardware.   
"The brain chips! So you DID steal them, you monster!" I yelled in anger. "And what do you expect me to do about all of this???"  
"Quite simple..." the mad scientist drawled. "I want you to create a new robot. One that will destroy the two that tried to fight my creations back at your lab."  
"No way!" I shook my head defiantly. "There's no way in hell that you'll get me to do that!"  
I could see Wily fuming with rage, but then Protoman came into view. I saw him whisper something into the old man's ear, then the doctor began to grin once more.  
"Protoman has just provided me with an excellent proposition..."  
I flinched, knowing that this had to be really bad...  
Zero... I prayed silently. Please get here soon...  
***  
A wave of energy came at me from the right, and I barely raised my saber in time to slash it away. I could hardly see through the generated fog of the training room; another little quirk that Sierra had added. As my thoughts briefly turned to her I lost concentration, causing Rock to land a direct hit to my chest and I to tumble to the ground.   
"Dammit!" I cursed, rolling away just as a third golden beam raced at my head. I spotted a nearby catwalk a few meters to my left, and I let loose a few shots of my cannon before bolting towards and jumping onto it. From there I was able to discern Rock's form, blue armor glinting in the lights every now and then. He fired blank shots into the fog, but in not receiving return fire he began powering up.  
Now his body began glowing yellow, then a sky blue, and finally neon pink. I braced myself on the catwalk as he let loose a series of high-power shots that would fry a bunch of my circuits had the beams hit me.  
The last of the shots was fired, and I saw my chance as he let his guard down to power up again. I crouched, then leaped through the thick fog. As I flew silently as a wraith down to my prey I re-activated my saber, the green energy producing a slight hum. Just as I was about to slice his cannon up Rock swiveled his arm at my torso, knocking me out of the air. I spun in a back flip as I hit the metal floor then rolled, only to stop dead in my tracks at the sight of Blue Boy's fully-charged cannon pointing right at my face. I sigh, relaxing my circuits and plopping down into a sitting position.  
"You win again, Mega Man," I curse, and to my anger a mask of concern rises to his face.  
"You're leaving yourself wide open, man," he said as he attempted to comfort me. Puh... like it helped any...  
"Yeah, yeah, I know, Rock. I'm not concentrating, I'm sloppy, and I'm not being serious about it all. Have I left anything out?"  
Then to my utmost surprise I got slammed against the training room wall by a backhand slap to the face. "What the hell was that for?" I demanded in fury. I rubbed the sore spot tenderly, but it was more a hollow pain compared to another I was feeling...  
"Do you think that this is going to help her, Zero?!" Rock yelled. "Feeling sorry for yourself and moping around won't bring her back! I know exactly how you're feeling right now!"  
"How could you?" I screamed back. "You don't know what I feel for her, Rock! You never could!"  
I could see he was pretty ticked off, because I had to dodge a punch aimed at my stomach. It glanced off my red armor, but was close to denting it. He turned away from me, but not before I saw a tear sting his eye. I stared at him in shock.  
"Don't you EVER say that to me, Zero," he said quietly with an underlying tone of raging fury. "I miss her and care for her just as much as you do. I understand that you love her... who couldn't? But focusing on her and not on getting her back won't help us any. We have to toughen up, or we'll die trying."  
His words rang true in my cybernetic heart, and I clenched my fist until I drew mechanical blood from underneath my armored gloves.   
"I have a feeling Wily's going to use her to get to us," Rock continued. He took off his blue helmet as he did so, shaking the sweat out of his matted brown hair and rubbing his face. "Dr. Light's already working on some adjustments for us so that we'll be even stronger. We have to train hard and work fast 'cuz the more time we waste, the more time Wily has to pick Sierra's brain for more uses of destruction."  
"I know," was all I could muster. "I just... can't stop thinking about it."  
He sighed. "I can't either. Just use those thoughts for energy, and fuel your power with them. That's what I do."  
I managed a smile. It was good to have a friend like Rock around, who knew exactly what I needed to get going again. I activated my saber, and the games began once more.   
***  
Three days... I have been here three days... with little food and even less water... That first day was the worst for me, for after my first spat with Wily, I endured an unpleasant struggle with a rebuilt Gutsman before being knocked out again. I didn't think my head could take much more... until I awoke back in my cot the next day. It must have been a day... I couldn't tell. Wily had no windows in this small cell of a room, devoid of color and light. On top of it all there was no mirror, so I therefore couldn't examine and treat the bruises under my now-straggled brown hair. Ick... without a brush, my pride and joy would be a rat's nest in no time... if it wasn't already. I knew I had dark circles under my blue eyes, despite all of the 'sleep' I was getting. It was maddening in this place... nothing to eat, nothing to do (because I refused to work on the robots that Wily had demanded I build) and no way to sleep.  
Every now and then I would feel... something... inside my head. I know that the mad doctor had done something to me, but I couldn't remember what. There was a lab table... Protoman grinning in an awful sort of leer...   
It occurred to me then, as the thought of Protoman crossed my mind, of something I thought I'd noticed. As if... his every move was forced and unwanted... almost... well, the only good term would be 'mechanical', though it's a bit absurd. I think I was drugged though, for how could an evil creation such as Protoman feel emotions like regret? Could he feel emotions at all? Oh man... I think the drugged theory makes more sense there.  
I had to get out of there, and fast. The problem was, where indeed was I? I needed the layout of the fortress, any outward transportation, and a way to defend myself from the evil robots. Rising to my feet I walked (or rather, wobbled from my drugged movements) over to the small worktable to examine my materials. Assorted circuits, power cells of various sizes, the brain chips...  
"That's it!" I murmured to no one but myself. Clearing a space with one hand, I sat down on the uncomfortable stool to begin my work.  
***  
Through an unknown monitor to the human, I watched the girl sit down and begin fiddling with the various parts. What was she up to? I couldn't tell, and frankly did not care. My only concern was making sure she didn't escape.  
I know Wily would never admit it to himself, idiot that he is, but this young girl was even more intelligent than he was! Especially in the common sense department. He never would have thought to place a monitoring device on her had I not mentioned it, as well as the other little implant that would make itself known soon enough. I smiled, but it had not emotion behind it. That was how Wily had made me... an unfeeling killing machine. Offhandedly I thought of why I was activated in the first place, save to be the old coot's bodyguard and proof to Light that he could program a decent 'bot too. Well, I'm here now, so what? Was I destined to be watchdog all of the time?  
Jeez... I hoped not. There had to be something better to do than that! It was a lot of fun to get out and beat up that red 'bot a few nights ago when we kidnapped the girl. I wanted to do it again, but Wily denied the request. Damn fool. I knew that if we didn't take 'em out soon, they'd come after us! How could he not see it?  
Absently I untied the yellow scarf around my neck and tied it again more tightly. It was just a little habit, a human thing that my brain chip enabled me to do. The same brain chip that this girl created, and Wily stole.  
Yeah, I was around when that happened. Wily stole me from Dr. Light too, didn't ya know? It was about, hmm... I guess it'd be six years now. I bet the girl had a hand in my design, too, though she'd have been real young... but I'd probably wouldn't find out. I was only half-built when I was taken from my true creator, Light, and Wily just added some parts here and there. I can remember before the brain chip, where I could only follow basic commands like 'walk', 'talk', and 'deactivate yourself'. It was horrendous. Even after I became 'smarter', though I had more of a mind and human quality I was restricted in all that I did.  
So why do I act as if I'm evil? One reason: trust. Wily trusts me, so I play dumb. The more I play dumb, the more trusted I am, and the easier it will be for me to escape one day. That's my goal: freedom. To do as I please, however I please, with no old man pressing the buttons.  
I'd rebel, if I could... but the damn reprogramming prevents me from doing so. Wily controls my every action, but at least I can think without him downloading my thought patterns and memory circuits. It's my only freedom, and hell, I relish it.  
I wonder sometimes. Yeah, eat that up, a robot wondering... but we're not as stupid as humans think. I only play dumb so that I don't get dismantled, or worse. Think I like being ordered around like a dog and not doing what I want? Hell no. Anyway, I wonder if Wily's as smart as he claims he is. I mean, sure, he can think up some pretty monstrous weapons, I'll give him that much credit, but really anybody can come up with a decent weapon if they tinkered around with some parts enough. Even I could. Maybe all of the genius he's got is coming up with destructive toys. I couldn't tell. I didn't care.  
I continued to watch the girl work, still unable to discern what it was she was building. A thought came to me then about the two robots back at Light's lab. How different they were from me.  
The red one was very powerful, but at the same time he appeared human in the way he acted. He even LOOKED human before he switched on his armor. Save for those huge red boots he could fit in anywhere without suspicion that he was a robot. But one thing puzzled me then... why would he want to be human?  
If I were free, I'd go someplace with very few or no humans and live on my own. I hate the creatures, thanks to Wily. They were overemotional and were frail. They created me, programmed me and made me what I am and for that I can never forgive them. Above all, I am not free, and the red and blue robots I saw before were. It just wasn't fair.  
My wrist monitor chirped, and I activated it to see Wily's ugly face. Couldn't he use his toys to make himself look halfway decent?  
"What?" I asked impatiently.  
"Don't take that tone with me, Protoman," he drawled threateningly. "What is the girl's status?"  
"She's awake and tinkering away," I answer, unable to restrain the bored tones of voice.  
The old coot frowned. "Is it on a new robot?"  
"Hell if I know, Doc. It doesn't look like it, but you're a better judge of that than I am."  
"Idiot! She may be trying to escape! Activate the device!" he bellowed as he pulled at his hair with both gnarled hands. The tiny screen switched off, leaving me frowning at it.  
"One BIG headache, coming up," I said loudly to myself as I pressed a button on the control panel in front of me. A series of lights activated, and I saw the girl suddenly fall to the floor of her cell, screaming.  
After a second the noise diminished some, but I saw that she was still struggling against the mind control implant. Fool. That device was just a powerful as the one controlling me, so how could she resist it? It would be over soon for her, and I sighed in resignation as well as boredom.  
***  
The pain resonated again and again in my mind, and I could hear Wily's voice through it all. I clutched my head, clawing at my scalp as if to try and remove the thing that hurt me so. But in that moment of insanity I still knew I could not remove the device, for it was embedded inside my brain.  
'Obey.. obey.. obey...' it repeatedly whispered, and I felt my body attempt to respond to the mental commands. I felt myself stand up, but all the same I fought it with every ounce of will power I had and managed to throw myself to the ground.  
"No! NO! NOO!" I screamed into the nothingness of my imprisonment, feeling every muscle straining to betray me. I held on as much as I could, trying to bury the voice in my head away so I couldn't hear it. But it was in vain, for as much as I resisted the device became more and more active...  
Soon I realized that I had lost this battle, for I felt my consciousness slipping away into the back of my mind where I could only watch my own movements as they were directed by Wily...  
  
  



	7. Betrayal?

Chapter Seven: Betrayal?  
Author's Notes: I have replaced this chapter due to a mess-up in the description of one of my characters... I apologize to everyone! I fixed it now, but there's a minor detail that I wanted to keep as it was... anyhoo, on with the story!  
  
At last the day has come. With the help of Dr. Light's ingenious designs and upgrades, Zero and I were finally ready to storm Wily's massive fortress. My X-buster had been adjusted so that I could draw more power even more quickly than before, and my armor had been plated with a new form of titanium that will reduce damage by fifty percent. Zero's had the same armor plating installed, and his saber's had some extra juice added into it to give it extra power.  
  
Over the past two weeks he and I have endlessly trained for this day, not caring if we'd win or not. After I had the little 'pep talk' with him a while ago Zero seemed to shape up quite a bit, becoming increasingly vicious in his fights and spars with me. He'd been winning more and more, which didn't bother me except for the fact that I usually found myself on the wrong end of brutal slashes and slices. Dr. Light's had to spend half the time repairing me, and it's a miracle he still completed our upgrades.  
  
I tried to talk to Zero again once or twice in between training sessions, but he never seemed aware of me anymore. His mind seemed to drift away to some other place, and he rarely spoke to me at all. I hoped that once Sierra was back he would revert to his normal self, but I wasn't sure. The guilt of letting her be abducted really fried his circuits good, and I doubted it would ever leave him alone.  
  
It was time to depart, and there he was all suited up in his crimson armor and green saber already in his hand. He nodded to me grimly, and I walked over to the small air-assault craft that was built for two. I took the pilot's seat and revved the thing up, Zero hopping in behind me as gunner.  
  
I waited as Dr. Light punched the controls to open a part of the lab's ceiling just big enough for the craft to fit through. I gave him a grin and thumbs-up while he waved in response, then took off into the sky.  
  
"Good luck!" I could make out from the Doc over the roar of the craft's engine.  
***  
  
It was finally here. I now understand the human term 'butterflies in the stomach', for that is what I felt as Rock sent the flying craft into the sky. I heard the chirps and beeps from his seat as the tracking and locator devices were activated, leading us to Wily's fortress.  
  
All of my sparring, practicing and grueling training would pay off now as we raced to save Sierra from the hells that Wily would place her through. I swore again as I had done the instant she was taken from me that if Wily had harmed so much as an eyelash on her, I would make sure he would live forever in agony.  
  
"Zero." Rock's alto voice cut into my dark thoughts. "We're approaching the fortress, and it looks like its auto-defense mechanisms are online."  
  
"No problem," I answered sharply, hearing the satisfying hum of the weapons as I switched them on. I tapped a button on my helmet to activate a guidance system inter-linked with the weapons, my gloved hand on the firing panel.  
  
"Enemy 'bots dead ahead! They're firing!" Rock shouted at me.  
  
I was ready. "Not anymore! Fry in hell, battery-brains!!!!" I fired six consecutive shots with lightning speed, my precision perfect as the approaching 'bots exploded in electric clouds of blue, red and green.  
  
"Nice job, Zero! Here come more!"  
  
I grinned to myself, then fired again at the swarming enemies. Thanks to Rock's expert piloting we didn't have much trouble flying past the defenses and into an open hangar. We landed smoothly, and as he opened the canopy I was the first to jump out to greet the welcoming committee.  
  
"Welcome back, brothers," said an all-too-familiar voice... Protoman.  
  
"You..." I growled at him in a voice dripping of venom. He crossed his arms a bit nervously, but gave a grin to cover it up.  
  
"Now, now," he taunted. "That's no way to talk to your big brother, Red."  
  
"Huh?" Rock asked from behind me. "What the heck do you mean by that, bud? What's he talking about, Zero?"  
  
"What I MEAN, Blue Dweeb..." he sneered, "...is that both of you were made from the same plans as I was, but I was activated years before you were. I'll even let you in on a little secret... Dr. Light created me, too... Not Wily."  
  
Needless to say, I was dumbfounded. This 'bot was created by Dr. Light?  
  
Rock voiced my inquiry. "You? You're one of Light's robots? Then why aren't you one of us? If you knew, why didn't you come back?"  
  
"Good question," our adversary shot back. "With a perfect answer. I'm programmed to be one of the 'bad guys.' So basically, I'm here to kill ya. Nothing personal, just a part of the job. You understand... right boys?"  
  
At his cue a handful of other robots emerged from the shadows behind him. I recognized Gutsman... didn't I kill him?... an orange robot with scissors-like blades on his head, which I saw Rock narrow his eyes at for some reason. Another seemed reptilian and had a snake's head helmet, a fourth one was yellow and burly and was holding an armful of bombs. The last one seemed to hang back in the darkness... it seemed as if he didn't want to make his presence known yet.  
  
The 'bots clustered around Protoman as they all glared menacingly at us. Rock and I stood our ground, unafraid of the battles ahead. I could see that some of them were really itching to fight, and who was I to deny them their deactivation? With a grin I stepped forward, and then everything was in slow motion.  
***  
  
Brother, huh? Not much of one... considering that he was on Wily's side now. I didn't quite know what to make of it, but when I saw Zero step forward and Protoman throw an arm to point at us as a signal of attack... it all didn't matter. Brother or no brother, this guy was an enemy, and was standing between Sierra and us.  
  
In a nutshell, hell broke loose. I stood back to back with Zero, me shooting supercharged X-Buster bolts and he slashing with his upgraded saber. Bombs exploded, armor dented, cracked and fried, and soon there were flying scissors and little green mechanical snakes that ate away at roof beams when deflected, like acid.  
  
I faced the one called Cutman first, remembering him from the night Sierra was kidnapped.  
  
"Looks like you were rebuilt, man!" I sneered at him.  
  
"Yeah, and it looks like I'm winning this time, Mega Jerk!" he shot back, throwing his spinning blades at me. I noticed that for a moment he was defenseless while controlling his weapon, so I ducked under once he took another shot at me, then pounced.  
  
I think I knocked him out pretty good, 'cuz he didn't get up after he hit the floor. Taking the opportunity without hesitation I reached with my cannon hand to touch Cutman's arm. I felt a small corona of energy surround me as I absorbed his power, and soon my armor turned bright orange to match Cutman's. The data for Slice Boomerang became integrated into my circuitry, and the instant it was complete I let loose about a dozen of the things at one of the 'bots.  
  
One of them... the yellow one with bombs... was hit in the side by one of the projectiles, and once he saw his fallen comrade, came rushing at me with an explosive in each hand.  
  
"Now, now," I called out to my approaching opponent. "You should never play with those things! You'll get hurt!" I waggled a finger in mockery, then dodged both bombs as they were hurled in my general direction. The yellow robot was still being moved forward by his momentum, so I then used its momentary lack of control to stick a leg out as he passed and absorbed his bombing power once he was out of commission on the hangar floor.  
  
"Told ya, bud," I said to the fallen robot, shaking my head.  
  
"Hey, ROCK!" Zero called out from the other side of the hangar. "Gimme a hand here!" I turned around in search of the source of his voice and finally found him staring into a darker part of the area. Around him were the other two lesser goon robots, and directly in front of him was Protoman, along with the mystery 'bot right behind him.  
  
My mechanical blood nearly froze just looking at the new guy. His armor was of purest black, eyes a matching shade with red stripes running from them to halfway down his cheek like tears of blood. His helmet was simple, also black but with a sapphire, star-shaped power crystal and two long fins of orange and black armor spraying from each side. (AN: O my gosh... I am so sorry for messing it up before! And to Pojo 911... thanx for telling me the description was wrong! However I am changing his weapon in this story... it'll just make things easier.)  
  
But it wasn't his appearance that frightened me. It was the look of his cannon/saber, remarkably similar to Zero's except... much more advanced it seemed. His armor, though plain and unadorned, was comprised of a stronger material then my own or Zero's, and when I scanned it I couldn't figure out really what the metal was...  
  
Protoman's voice cut into the heavy silence, breaking the trance. "Yes, meet the newest member of our family... say hello to your brothers, Bass."  
  
"Hello." A chilling, unemotional voice masked by an evil leer, deep as his name. I shuddered, but then I registered what Protoman had just said.  
  
"Wait a minute, Protoman! Why do you call him a brother as well? Doctor Light didn't make him!"  
  
"You're right, Mega Man," Bass answered. "Your Doctor Light did not create me, nor did Doctor Wily."  
  
"Then who..."  
  
"I did."  
  
I could have died then. There, stepping from the shadows followed closely by Doctor Wily, was Sierra.  
  
AN: YIKES! Has Sierra really started working for Wily? What is Bass capable of? Can Zero and Mega Man defeat him?!?! Review, and I'll be sure to get the next chapter out much more quickly!  



	8. White Fury, Black Emptiness

Chapter Eight: White Fury, Black Emptiness  
  
Author's Note: This begins from Zero's POV...  
  
This was a nightmare. It just had to be... here she was, not two meters in front of me, and... she wasn't Sierra anymore! Somehow, somehow Wily had done something to her to change her; that had to be it! But... but why did she build this... abomination?  
  
"Sierra!" I called out to her. "What's wrong with you? Why have you done this?" It just didn't make sense!  
  
"I am Dr. Wily's builder and robot designer now."  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" I shouted at her blank face. "Wily's the one who kidnapped you and tried to kill your own grandfather! How could you do this?"  
  
"She doesn't have to answer that, do you my dear?" asked Wily with an insane grin that made my blood boil in fury.  
  
"No I do not, Doctor."  
  
"What is this?!" I couldn't take this anymore! I saw Rock stiffen behind me and place a warning hand on my shoulder. I shook it off immediately... this was no time for comfort! I tried to take a step towards her, but the new robot, Bass, countered me by moving in front of her.  
  
"Move," I commanded. "NOW."  
  
"No, I will not," said the black 'bot, piercing raven eyes boring into my green ones. "You will not come near my creator. If you do, I will be forced to destroy you."  
  
"Just try it, rookie," I sneered. "You don't know anything about fighting."  
  
"Wanna test that theory?" he shot back, mirroring my own demonic grin.  
  
"Why not. Let's go!"  
  
"Zero!" Rock exclaimed. "You can't possibly win against him! He's way more advanced than the both of us combined... you'll be roasted in less than a minute!"  
  
"Point taken Rock." I didn't have the time or the energy to spare arguing with him. "But this is my fight... you will stay out of it. I lost Sierra, and I will get her back. Alone."  
  
"But, Zero..."  
  
"Better listen to him, brother!" Protoman cut in, "You'll be facing me." He walked slowly towards my concerned friend, who narrowed his eyes in response.   
  
"Fine."  
  
Satisfied that Rock wasn't going to interfere, I turned back to Bass. I was the first to raise my emerald energy saber; he activated his own, which was deep lavender that added eerie highlights to his jet-black armor.  
  
Time froze for a moment as we eyed one another in preparation, each sizing up the opponent. After a long time, which seemed like hours but in reality was a nanosecond Bass charged. I dodged easily, not intending to block the blow. The first step in battle is to know and analyze your enemy. Instead of going at your opponent head on, one should evade and study their technique and choice moves before adding your own to the deadly dance.  
  
"Coward!" he shouted to me once he came at me again. "Just try to hit me!"  
  
This time I flipped backwards as he swung a wide uppercut. So far his moves were flawless and fluidly followed-through, but nothing is perfect and therefore neither was he. I indulged him with a simple parry-and-block when he tried to slash at my midsection, throwing his blade downward at the floor. The metal tiling screeched in protest as the plasma of the weapon seared and melted it but Bass hardly skipped a beat with another uppercut aimed at my leg.  
  
"You're not bad," he said, seemingly a bit surprised.  
  
"Nice to know you think so!" I grinned, blocking a high slice that was meant to knock away my head.  
  
"You're pretty arrogant, Zero... that's gonna get you killed! You shoulda listened to your friend!"  
  
"I fight my own battles, rookie! And I win them, too!"  
  
"So I'm a rookie huh? Well, ROOKIE THIS!"  
  
And with that he executed a super-fast series of slashes and swipes that I could barely block in time. I was finally able to get away from the flying blade, but not without gaining some scratches in my armor and a deep cut to my sword arm...  
  
"Dammit..." I cursed. "Too fast..."  
  
"What'd I tell you?" Bass taunted me. "Don't mess with me, man! Just leave quietly and live with a defeat under your belt."  
  
"NO WAY!" I shouted as I raced in blind fury with my sword ready. A momentary berserker, I swung again and again at the black robot. It appeared that my sudden attack gave me a few seconds' advantage, scoring me multiple hits. However, my frenzy dulled my awareness and I only snapped out of it when plasma bolt hit the side of my head.   
  
"ZERO!" someone screamed, then all went black.  
***  
  
"You'll be facing me, brother."  
  
"Fine then," I spat back at Protoman. With him in my path, there was no way I could help Zero... and so my only option was to go forward... through him.  
  
"Let's get this over with."  
  
"With pleasure." Punctuating the statement was a shower of blue plasma bolts, most of which were evaded easily and the rest just glancing off of my armor. I returned fire with a low power shot, gaining me time to get a power boost as the red and grey 'bot ducked for cover. I felt my armor melt back into its original blue color, then a golden aura surrounded me as my power was channeled into my cannon. I could feel my energy rising substantially, until finally my aura faded and my cannon was glowing, red-hot.  
  
Protoman eyed me nervously as he peeked out from the rubble in front of him, but before he knew it I had covered the small distance between us. Now my cannon was right in front of his face, and there was no way he could block at point-blank range if I decided to fire.  
  
"Stay out of my way, Protoman."  
  
"Easy there, little brother! No need to get all violent!" I could tell he was getting REAL nervous, so I took advantage of this.  
  
"So tell me, 'brother,'" I asked in a low tone. "Why are you one of Wily's goons?"  
  
"I told you already," he growled. "I was programmed that way, and there's nothing I can do about it! So just go ahead and kill me... end it all. I don't care."  
  
I hesitated. Why was he just giving up? There was something wrong here...  
  
Then I heard the plasma bolt from some ways away... My head shot up just in time to see Zero hit the ground with a wound to his head... and Bass beginning to advance for the kill.  
  
"ZERO!" I screamed.  
  
"You're too late, Rock," said Protoman quietly from his fixed position. "You can't save him. Just finish me off and go. Please."  
  
I shot a puzzled glance at him. Had he just called me by my name? I tried to search the eyes from beneath the dark visor of his helmet, but found nothing.  
  
:"Another day," I promised, more to myself than to him, and re-aimed my bolt at Bass. Once he was in my sights I fired, letting loose a firestorm of red energy that hit the black robot square in the back and throwing him to the ground face-down.  
  
"Sierra!" I shouted to the girl beside Wily. "Do you see what you've done?! Bass was going to kill Zero, and you were GOING TO LET IT HAPPEN! LOOK AT HIM, SIERRA! HE'S DYING!" My voice cracked from the anguish in my heart, for I would lose my only two friends in a single day...  
  
No... I thought. I won't let that happen... I'll never say die. Zero's not dead yet, so there's still time... to save him at least. I began to swiftly make my way to where Zero had fallen...  
  
...but was hit hard in the back by a blast powerful enough to paralyze me.  
  
"You're not the only one who can power up, Mega Man. You never should have turned your back on me. I really hate doing this but it's my job... you had your chance to kill me, but now I have no choice but to kill you now."  
  
"No..." I choked. "Dammit... is there no nothing in your heart that tells you this is wrong? Have you no sense of what is right and wrong?"  
  
"You're so naïve, Mega Man... no, Rock," he correctly, his voice stone cold but not harsh. "You forget that we robots have no hearts. We're just machines, and it's all we'll ever be. I don't need a sense of 'right' and 'wrong'. It's all opinion, and my programming only allows me to follow orders."  
  
"To hell with damn programming!" I shouted as I tried in vain to get up. "You're wrong! We're not just machines... we were activated with personalities and emotions as well as a conscience from our brain chips! They weren't 'programmed'! We developed them ourselves, through experience and learning... I know you have emotion in there somewhere, Protoman... Wily's just repressed it... made you think you don't have it!"  
  
"Enough!" Wily shouted at us. "Protoman, finish the job now! I can't take any more of this whining!"  
  
I shut my eyes tightly, feeling that this was indeed the end. Silence followed, but I heard no whirr of powering up, nor just a simple burst of energy from a cannon.  
  
"Protoman! Do not defy me! FIRE! How dare you disobey!"  
  
Still silence. I opened my eyes, straining to see my executioner standing over me in the dim lights of the hangar. He appeared frozen in place, but after a moment began to shake slightly.  
  
"FIRE, PROTOMAN!"  
  
"I... can't do it..." I heard him murmur. "Why can't I do it?"  
  
"THIS IS THE LAST TIME I WILL ASK YOU!" Wily roared in raging fury at being ignored by his follower. "FIRE NOW!"  
  
Instantly Protoman snapped to attention at the power of his master's anger, and began to power up obediently. I shut my eyes again, feeling a tear sting one eye. I had failed not only to save Zero, but also to save Sierra... and my very own brother. One I never knew I had...  
  
The sound of a fully charged plasma bolt shrieked into existence, and a choked sob erupted from my throat.  
  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes... another cliffhanger... please don't kill me! Review review! I should have the next chapter out by tomorrow... if not earlier... Cya! ~Sierra Omega~  



	9. Brothers

Chapter Nine: Brothers  
Author's Note: Hmph... no one has reviewed... well I'm resolving the cliffhanger, and leading to another! Hee hee...  
  
The blast was charging... time was running out as I battled the demons within myself. What was holding me back? He was just another robot... so what if he was a brother...  
  
I could hear Wily screaming at me of course, but something within the depths of mind kept restraining me, whispering that it wasn't supposed to be like this.  
  
I saw him on the floor where I'd paralyzed him, saw his tear and heard his sigh of defeat. At the same time his innocent words resonated and echoed in haunting chants in my head.  
  
...Wily repressed them... we're not just machines... you have emotion too... to hell with programming...  
  
But... it couldn't be right! I couldn't feel; I could only follow orders! I was an automaton destined to destroy, and yet now I couldn't obliterate this helpless robot I called kin. Maybe... could Rock somehow be right? Was my programming... only an illusion? Had he only blinded me from the beginning, so that I would be and obedient puppet?  
  
The bolt was charged. I prepared to fire. The sound of a blast echoed in the vastness of the hangar... but it was not my own.  
  
I instantly found myself on the floor, my cannon arm a tangle of melting wires next to me. Pain surged through me, nearly overloading my circuitry. I struggled with my one remaining arm to get back to my feet, but a booted foot kicked me back down hard.  
  
"What the..." I gasped aloud in pain. I squinted through my visor, which had become cracked from my fall. A dark shape stood over me, clad in black armor...  
  
"Bass! What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded. "You're supposed to kill the other two, idiot!"  
  
"You're not my superior, Protoman," he said coldly, glaring with his icy black orbs in disgust at me. "I eliminate all who threaten my creator, Sierra. You have defected to join Mega Man and Zero; therefore you are a threat to her."  
  
"The hell I defected! Wily-- are you just going to stand there and let this bucket of bolts try to beat me up?"  
  
"The way I see it, Protoman," the old man stated as he twirled one side of his scraggly mustache, "is that you are no longer of any use to me."  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"You see," he continued, seeming to not hear my protest. "Your design has become, shall we say... obsolete, as compared to Bass here. Also, you failed to immediately follow a direct order to destroy Mega Man. This causes me great concern... yes, great concern indeed. I fear I cannot trust you any more."  
  
"After all I've done... all of the dirty work you made me do! Is this the thanks I get?" I demanded, furious beyond everything. I could see Bass leering at me, the girl staring blankly ahead... and Wily looking in no general direction with an insane grin on his ugly face.  
  
"Ah yes, of course. Thank you for your services, Protoman. You may kill him now, Bass."  
  
"Oh no you don't..." said a forgotten voice dangerously. A blue boot kicked wildly at Bass's legs, knocking him over. The black robot instantly began to get up, only slightly fazed... but Rock wasn't finished yet. I watched him morph his armor into a horribly ugly banana-yellow color, then form a bomb in one hand.  
  
"Get it!" he yelled at me, for he was still for the most part unable to move. Bass saw the bomb and tried to swipe it out of Rock's immobile hand, but the second it took him to realize what the round object was gave me an edge. I propelled myself forward painfully with my one remaining arm, hitting Bass full-force in the stomach. My helmet shattered as I made contact against the super-hard armor, sending shards slicing across my exposed face and scalp. I ignored the mechanical pseudo-blood that was beginning to darken my thick brown hair and grabbed the bomb from Rock's hand.  
  
I felt a charged plasma bolt hit me in the side, but I didn't care as I pounced on my opponent, giving him a deadly bear hug with the explosive only seconds away from detonating.  
  
  
3... 2... 1... 0...  
  
  



	10. Memories

Chapter Ten: Memories  
  
I saw Bass fighting, and I was proud that my creation was faring so well against the other two robots. Despite my joy, however, something tugged at the back of my mind... as if I knew the red and blue enemies.  
  
"Doctor..." I asked of Wily, who was still standing beside me. "Who are they?"  
  
"Don't worry yourself about it, my dear," he responded in that crazed voice that often unnerved me, especially while I was working. "They are of no importance. You don't know them."  
  
But something was screaming that he was wrong. As much as I tried to suppress this feeling it kept getting louder and louder. The red one... I gathered his name was Zero... had looked at me with... loss? Longing? He had seemed so happy to see me, but where had I met him before?  
  
Then the blue one, Mega Man, had yelled at me that I was letting Zero die. First of all, how in the world had he known my name? Secondly, why should I care that the worthless scrap metal was being sent to the junkyard? He was just an obsolete pile of wires...  
  
Nevertheless, a kind of nausea seemed to flow through me, and as I saw the crimson-armored Zero lie unconscious on the ground I felt a dull ache ram against my heart over and over. Why? Why?  
  
I wanted Bass to kill them both... I wanted to be rid of these weird senses of déjà vu. Yes... once they were gone I could return to my work. I liked to work, and to build new robots for Doctor Wily. Often, while I worked in my cramped but comfortable room he would check on my progress, and praise my brilliance. Of course I was brilliant... I had built Bass, hadn't I?  
  
But an even more common visitor I had had was Protoman. As I thought about it, I realized that the discomfort I had felt around him was somewhat similar to that I felt for the two robots fighting Bass now. So I was happy when my beautiful robot turned against the arrogant Protoman, who had apparently been brainwashed by Mega Man's romanticism. He was a fool from the beginning. He deserved to be scrapped.  
  
I continued to view the battle with happiness as Bass prepared to finish off the trash, but then something happened that was too fast to see... Protoman had launched himself at Bass... and then...  
  
"NO!" I screamed as a huge explosion shook the hangar. "BASS!" I didn't want to lose my creation, for he had become a sort of family... family.... Family... Why did that strike a chord within me...? I looked at Wily, who had that weird grin plastered on his face, the crazed look in his oversized eyes...  
  
Wait... this had happened before... flashes of some forgotten memory hit my mind hard... Wily, with some robots... old ones, but deadly... two people, a man and woman... could they be... The man had short blond hair and clear blue eyes behind thin glasses that couldn't hide his fear... the woman was a bit shorter than him but still tall, with long brown hair and grey eyes that sparkled in defiance as she stood between me and Wily...   
  
I saw in my mind's eye Wily yelling at these people who looked like me... me, who at that time must have been very young for I was looking upwards as these events unfolded... I saw Wily threaten them, moving his arms about wildly. The people... yes... they were my parents! They had to be! They were... shaking their heads... they looked angry and frightened.  
  
Then Wily gestured to the robots... and they whirred forward on shaky feet, raising their crude energy weapons... bright light filled the room and I had to cover my eyes... When I could see again, my parents were both on the floor... my father was dead... but my mother was only barely alive...  
  
"MAMA!" I had screamed as I tried to run to her, to help her... but a robot saw me and restrained me with cold, metal hands that cut into my skin as I struggled in vain. More energy fire erupted... the smell of ozone and burning flesh... bright light... and they were gone. My parents both gone without a trace... their bodies vaporized by Wily... Wily... Wily... Wily's laughter... Wily's sneer... my crying... my screaming... that monster had left me to die... he had set a fire to the laboratory, locking me in a closet as he took my father's experimental robot...  
  
Blue. That's what I had wanted to name him... green eyes, reddish-brown hair... his face had looked so sad when I saw him being built... so I had called him Blue... he was going to be activated that very day... I had even helped in some of his design and construction... as a little girl I was considered brilliant... but Wily destroyed it all... all gone...  
  
"AAAHHHH!!!" I screamed as the memories came flooding back into me. I clutched at my head, which felt as if it were on fire and fell to my knees on the cold metal tiling of the hangar. But then everything around me was being blacked out... a forgotten stage set in which the actors have forever left... as I plunged into my own mind to see what I was missing... I could barely hear Wily's voice as he tried to bring me back to my senses; trying to figure out what was wrong with me...  
  
The river of Time washed over me as I saw everything from behind my own self, like a window looking out from my own body. I relived growing up in a few seconds... going to school... learning robotics with Grandfather Light... creating the brain chips... activating Rock and Zero. Zero... who was dying... and I was letting it happen... Zero was dying... Rock was dying... Protoman was dying...  
  
I tried to open my eyes, but became half-blinded by the harsh lights above me. I barely saw Zero's lifeless body... Rock lying on the ground, paralyzed... Bass some feet away, dazed but beginning to come to... and Protoman... without his helmet on he looked so much like...  
  
Like Blue. I focused on the robot as best I could, and amidst the haze in front of my vision I finally recognized my father's creation... even in the disassembled state he was in. The auburn hair... were his eyes the green I remembered...? Yes. They had to be! It was Blue!  
  
"BLUE!" I screamed. Bass was now to his feet and charging his plasma cannon as it was pointed a foot away from the red and grey robot's chest.  
  
"BASS! STOP!"  
  



	11. Perfect Machine

Chapter Eleven: Perfect Machine  
  
"BLUE!" I screamed. Bass was now to his feet and charging his plasma cannon as it was pointed a foot away from the red and grey robot's chest.  
  
"BASS! STOP!"  
***  
  
I heard the command and I obeyed, leaving Protoman and Mega Man forgotten on the floor. I turned to my creator, who appeared to be in a weakened state. Afraid that she was in some danger I rushed to her side, throwing Wily away from her as I did so.  
  
"Watch what you're doing, damn robot!" the old man cursed, earning him a glare from me.  
  
"Shut up, you old fool," I told him dangerously. "Can you not see that my creator has been harmed? I do not take orders from you, only her."  
  
"Why you miserable piece of scrap wiring and circuits--"  
  
Wrong move, Wily. I picked him up by the collar of his lab coat before he could finish insulting me. "Do not talk to me like that, old man, or I will destroy you. I won't hesitate to do it, so DO NOT TEST MY PATIENCE. HELP SIERRA, AND DO IT NOW!"  
  
Before the quivering coward could croak out a reply Sierra began screaming again, and I dropped Wily so that I could help her.  
  
"Sierra! What's the matter? Speak to me! What can I do to help you?!"  
  
"Bass..." she sobbed. "Don't hurt them... don't kill them!"  
  
I was shocked. What was so wrong that she was telling me to not destroy our enemies? "What are you saying? They're our adversaries! We have to kill them!"  
  
"No, Bass..." she cried softly. "I was... wrong... they're not bad... Wily is the evil one..."  
  
"WHAT?" I whirled around to face the mad scientist, who was at first white as a sheet but now blossoming bright red in fury.  
  
"Damn you, girl!" he shouted. "How could you resist my mind-control chip!? It was flawless!"  
  
"Mind-control?" I asked, unbelieving. "You mean..."  
  
"Yes, Bass," Wily sneered. "I told this little girl to build you against her will. She was to fulfill my every command; your only purpose was to destroy Mega Man and Zero... but somehow she has overridden the commands I had input into the chip..." he trailed off as he mused to himself.  
  
I was beside myself, using the human term. Okay, that was a severe understatement. I was infuriated beyond anything else! How DARE he control my creator's actions! Even if I was a product of his villainous acts against Sierra, she was still my creator and it was my duty to defend her!  
  
But my first priority was to get her some help...I could deal with Wily later. I spotted the aircraft that Mega Man and Zero had flown in here with, and I picked up my creator to place her safely inside. She did not struggle, but when I began to take my place at the pilot's seat she stopped me. I turned to look at her in concern and felt my robotic heart break at the pain in her eyes. It was truly the first emotion I had ever felt aside from a cold desire to kill...  
  
"Bass..." she murmured almost incoherently. "We have to help them..."  
  
'Them' most likely meant Mega Man, Protoman, and Zero. I growled to myself silently, trying to figure out if I really wanted to follow her wish. I mean, hell, I was programmed from the very start to destroy them!  
  
But then I remembered Protoman's betrayal against Wily. How he had defied his programming to follow... what? His heart...? No... that couldn't be. Robots don't have emotions... or did they? My memory shifted to the look on Zero's face when he saw Sierra. There was definitely some emotion there, which probably explained why he fought so hard against me even though all odds were in my favor! It seemed that every robotic philosophy I had picked up on was being outdone and proven wrong in every sense.  
  
Jealousy set in. Could I ever be as free as those three? I looked again to Sierra, and decided that it could be so. She was a compassionate person, I could see that now... Wily had only wiped her mind so that her body was a lifeless shell... and she seemed to care for those robots a lot... and, I think, she cared for me too...  
  
"All right," I said, and jumped out of the plane to retrieve the 'bots. I reached Zero first, who was thrown over my shoulder still unconscious. I then moved over to where Protoman lay in at least three pieces, picked them all up and walked back to the aircraft. From the look of it, the ride to wherever we were going was gonna be a tight fit... I put Zero in next to Sierra, who appeared greatly relieved. As for Protoman, his parts went into the cargo space. There was no other way to put him elsewhere. At last I went to retrieve Mega Man, who was slowly regaining mobility in his limbs. I applauded silently his efforts to destroy me... the guy really had spunk... and maybe 'spirit', too, as the humans would apply it.  
  
As I approached he sat up almost groggily, inching away from me.  
  
"I can still kill you, man..." he warned.  
  
"Cool it, Blue Bomber," I said, putting my hands up in defense as my black eyes widened. "I'm not planning to hurt ya any more."  
  
"Oh? Why is that?"  
  
I rolled my eyes. "Where've you been, dope? My creator was controlled by Wily and used me to try and kill you. She's back to normal now, so I'm helping her get you back you wherever you all came from!"  
  
"Sierra? She was under mind-control?"  
  
"Didn't I just say that?" I exclaimed in exasperation. "YES! Jeez, Protoman musta beaten you up more than I thought if you're this out of it... what a wimp..."  
  
"Hey, shut up! I managed to dent you up pretty well, didn't I?"  
  
I looked myself over. "Yeah, guess so... now come on! We have to get out of here before Wily does something..."  
  
"Too late."  
***  
  
Mind control, huh? That made sense... it would explain why Sierra didn't recognize Zero and me before... however I was hesitant to let Bass help me... it all seemed too easy.  
  
"Come on! We have to go!" he said again, "Before Wily does something..."  
  
"Too late..." called a voice.  
  
"Oh, shit..." I cursed. Why couldn't I learn to expect these things? Bass and I turned around to see Wily back on his feet, and now he had some sort of device in one hand.  
  
"Did you really think I'd let you go that easily, Bass?" he asked the black robot maniacally. "I made sure that Sierra built a failsafe control remote when she built you... and look! She seems to have dropped it..."  
  
"Wily! Stop!" I heard Sierra call from the plane. I finally saw how thin she had become, and how pale she was. What the heck had Wily done to her? But when I saw the rebellious gleam in her eye I knew she was herself again.  
  
"Stop this!" she repeated. "I won't let you take Bass, or hurt any of my friends again!"  
  
  
Author's Note: Uh-oh... looks like Bass is in big trouble! Will he be reacquired by Wily? REVIEW!!!!  



	12. Hero

Chapter Twelve: Hero  
Author's Note: This is continuing directly from the last chapter, in Rock/Mega Man's POV...  
  
"Stop this!" she repeated. "I won't let you take Bass, or hurt any of my friends again!"  
  
"You are in no position to threaten me, girl!" Wily shot back. "Just watch as I turn your own robot against you! Bass!" he turned to me with his thumb fingering a blue button. I saw the black robot's eyes widen in fear and anger, clenching his fists. It seemed as if he knew about the little black box, but never thought about it.  
  
"Bass! I command you to kill Mega Man, and then the rest of them!" He pressed the button. Bass fell to the ground as his circuits shorted in and out. Then he became stone still, and suddenly jumped to his feet. His eyes glowed a gleaming red now, and as he turned to face me I knew I was in trouble.  
  
"Snap out of it, Bass" I said quietly. My only response was a widening grin of madness. "Bass! Wily's trying to confuse you! He's the bad guy here!"  
  
"ROCK!" Sierra yelled. "It won't work! I built that remote myself... nothing can stop Bass! Run!"  
  
What else could I do? I hightailed it to the aircraft on jelly legs, cursing at myself for my weakness. I heard Bass powering up and tried to move faster, managing to get a few steps further before falling flat on my face. He fired, and in desperation I rolled sharply to the right. The blast missed me by only microns, searing the side of my blue helmet. The energy had passed so close to my power crystal that I felt it begin to melt and some of my internal systems begin to shut down.  
  
"NOOO!!" Sierra screamed, breaking down into tears. My own heart broke as I barely registered her cries... I was going to let her down...  
  
No... I couldn't let this stop me... I had friends to protect! Determined to make it I struggled to my feet as I heard Bass prepare to fire again. One step... then another... the aircraft was ten feet away... eight feet... now five...  
  
BAM! I was hit... this time in the side. My mechanical blood flowed from the wound freely, even as I tried to stanch it by covering it with my gloved hand. The liquid dripped to the floor as I nearly keeled over in agony, but I had to go on... I was the only one that could get us home.   
  
Just two steps away... I leaped into the cockpit with some spare reserve of energy left and powered up the systems. The craft shuddered and groaned as one engine was blasted to pieces, but I turned on the auxiliary boosters and hit the accelerators faster than anyone could say 'Sizzling circuits!'  
  
"Rock!" Sierra exclaimed once I had turned on the autopilot. "Rock! Are you all right?"  
  
Jeez... what a question... I was dying, and I knew it. I knew I probably wouldn't make it back to the lab... but I couldn't tell her that. I looked into her eyes, those sapphires that were lined with pain and suffering...  
  
"I'll... be... okay..." I muttered, giving her a weak smile. "How's... Zero?"  
  
"He's all right," she answered, a tear falling down her cheek. "He just needs some minor repairs... but, Rock... I'm so sorry..."  
  
"For... what? What could you possibly... need to be... sorry for?" I was really struggling to keep an even voice; I refused to let myself deactivate now, even as a complete system failure was creeping closer ever second.  
  
"For creating Bass! For getting abducted in the first place! For letting myself be controlled by Wily... God, I'm so sorry for it all... this is all my fault, Rock! Zero's hurt... you're..." her voice cracked, "... dying..."  
  
"Hey..." I whispered, trying to comfort her. "Don't worry about me... it wasn't... your fault... 'Sides, I knew we wouldn't leave there unharmed... I got lucky..." I coughed, and as I brought my hand away from my mouth I saw more blood dotting my glove...  
  
"Rock!" she sobbed. "No... this can't be happening... don't die..."  
  
I didn't know what to do. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the lab approaching in the distance, but it was still so far... I reached over and took one of her hands in mine, trying to save my strength by not speaking. She raised her head to look me in the eye for the first time, and I saw through now-blackening vision her crystal tears flowing down her pale cheeks. She was about to speak again when I heard a groan from nearby.  
  
Sierra jumped in surprise as she turned to see Zero stirring back into reality. 'Bout time the idiot woke up... I coughed again, turning away so that Sierra couldn't see. Luckily she was paying more attention to Zero at the moment, as it should be. Those two really belonged together...  
  
"Uhh... my head..." he moaned, opening his green eyes at last.  
  
"Zero? Zero?" Sierra was repeating, tears flowing even faster.  
  
"Si... erra...?" he mumbled, trying to focus his gaze on her. "Is it really you...? Or am I still dreaming?"  
  
"It's me..." she murmured, and suddenly hugged him tightly. I saw him wince in pain, but didn't show it in front of her. I laughed in my mind. Talk about mush... but who was I to object...  
  
Then at the worst moment, I began involuntarily convulsing from internal power failure... my vision was failing... I couldn't breathe...  
***  
  
Author's Note: Sorry that these are so short! But there will be lots more coming, and I'll try to post them in groups of two or three...  



	13. Goodbye...

Chapter Thirteen: Goodbye...  
Author's Note: This is short... and you might want to grab a kleenex or two...this is Zero's POV.  
  
I woke up slowly, and was barely aware of anything except my angel... was it really happening? I felt her cling to me tightly, and I dared not let her know how much pain I was in...  
  
As I became accustomed to the real world again I saw a hunched blue figure in the pilot's seat... was it...  
  
"Rock?" I sat up a bit too quickly, but right now I didn't care... "Rock! What the HELL happened to you?!"  
  
"I'm fine, Zero... just... a... scratch..." he lied.  
  
"The hell it is!" I yelled back at him. "It was that black bastard, wasn't it, Rock? WASN'T IT?"  
  
"That.... 'black bastard'..." he growled, "...saved your butt... got us out... of there... before Wily... turned him... against us..."  
  
I looked to Sierra for an explanation... I couldn't understand what Rock was telling me... but then I remembered...  
  
"Sierra... what happened? Why didn't you recognize me before? What's Rock talking about?"  
  
"I can't explain now... I'm too weak..." she murmured, her voice cracking between racking sobs. "But Rock is... going to die..."  
  
"It's okay, Sierra..." he tried to say, but ended up shaking more and falling into a coughing fit. "I know I'm not gonna live... but its worth it... to see... you two... back together..."  
  
"No way, Rock," I said in my most menacing tone I could muster. I WOULD NOT let my best friend die like this! "You are NOT gonna give up! Do you hear me?! You're gonna stay alive! Not just for me, but for Sierra! It's not much longer 'till we get back, and Doc Light'll have you... have you up and running in no time! Just hold on! Do it for HER, at least!"  
  
"You know... I can't do that... buddy..." he managed to say, his face straining to keep control of himself. "I'm sorry... get Wily for me... okay? Take care of... Sierra..."  
  
"Stop it!" I screamed. "Shut up already! You're not going to die! I won't let you!"  
  
"Sorry... Ze... ro... it's... t...oo... la...te... good... bye..." his voice faded, and he gave one last grin... before shuddering again... and surrendering to a complete power failure.  
  
"ROCK!" I screamed into the cockpit... "ROCK! YOU DAMN WEAKLING! I'LL NEVER... forgive... you..." And then I dissolved into uncontrollable sobs... there he was... he looked like he was asleep and dreaming with... that damn grin on his face... I hid my face in my hands, unable to control my tears.  
  
"Zero..."  
  
I lifted my head to see Sierra there... she was crying too, but far more than I was. I pulled her to me and held her, the both of us crying the rest of the way to the lab...  
  
Author's Note: More coming! Review, pleeeeeeaaaassseee!   



	14. Forgiveness and Reunion

Chapter Fourteen: Forgiveness and Reunion  
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long! I was writing other stories... this starts from Zero's POV and here is a warning for some sappiness... not the whole chapter though! ~=)  
  
Our welcome home was a solemn event, and it really hurt the both of us when Doctor Light saw Rock... okay, the man began crying his eyes out. Not that I blamed him... Rock was like another son to him, and his reaction to this was much worse than when Sierra was taken away... but then, we knew we had a chance to save her... and it was too late to save Rock...  
  
But when I saw the old man's gentle face contort into that much pain I couldn't take it anymore. This was too much for a robot... so I retreated to my room to be alone. I left the lights off to complement my dark and brooding mood, but I switched off my armor. I didn't want to think about what had happened back at Skull Fortress... I felt the pain of my injuries that screamed for repair, but I ignored it...  
  
I really don't know how long I just stood there in the darkness, but at some point I heard a knock on my door. Refusing to answer I remained silent, causing the intruder to call out.  
  
"Zero... I know you're in there... can I come in? Please?"  
  
Sierra... the one I had risked it all to save... and look at what it cost me... my best friend's life...  
  
"It's open!" I snapped, but regretted it when I heard her gasp. Nevertheless she entered, but left the lights off to leave a dim glow where the door was cracked. She approached soundlessly, but didn't come close to me. I was happy for that... for I wasn't in great shape right then...  
  
"Zero..." she said softly, the vocal strains from her crying still audible. "I'm so sorry... I know that saying it's not enough... and I'm sure that you hate me for it all... God... nothing I can do will ever bring him back... I couldn't save him, just like I couldn't save..." she trailed off, "...my parents..." Those last words were the merest of whispers, barely heard by even my keen hearing.  
  
I heard a faint thump a few feet away; followed by the torn sobs of a broken heart. I tried to ignore them...but I knew that I could not forget what happened, no matter what my mind was telling me. She was an innocent girl, caught up in the war between two scientists... one with a desire to take over the world-- the other a pacifist trying to save it. She was a pawn, something to be used... and cast aside as Wily had done.  
  
No... she was more than that. She was more to me than just a pawn in a war of brains...  
  
'Take care of Sierra...'  
  
'It was all worth it to see you two together again...'  
  
'I knew I wasn't going to make it...'  
  
Rock... you knew... didn't you? You knew everything that was happening... you knew I'd try to blame her... but it's not her fault, is it Rock? You forgave her... but why can't I?  
  
He had loved her enough to forgive her... he had loved us both enough to make sure we were together...  
  
'You're so damn naïve, Rock...' I thought to myself, allowing a cold grin to yank at my mouth. 'But you were right...' He risked it all for us, and he didn't regret it at all. I wasn't going to let his sacrifice be for nothing... I wasn't going to let my Sierra waste away from her guilt and self-hate...  
  
I searched the darkness and pulled Sierra into my arms, trying to comfort her sobbing and shaking form. She buried her face in my shirt as she clung to me, then I wrapped my arms around her to calm her.  
***  
  
I didn't deserve his kindness... I didn't deserve his attention at all! I killed Rock... I killed his best friend... and I wanted to die! These and other phrases from the darkness of my mind pummeled me endlessly, backed by the remaining pain from Wily's chip that he had implanted in me...  
  
I felt so safe with Zero; he was warm and inviting to my barren soul. These past few weeks, though I barely remembered them now, had been so cold and empty... I had soiled my hands so much as I had built Bass... and helped Wily...  
  
Wily... he would forever haunt me! Why... why did it have to be me? More than anything I wanted to die... to let myself be forgotten forever among everyone... I didn't want to hurt anybody else, especially the one holding me close to him now.  
  
"Zero..." I cried into his shirt. "He's gone... they're all gone... it's my fault, Zero..."  
  
"Shh... no it's not, Sierra," he said quietly in my ear as strands of his golden hair brushed against my face. "It's not your fault... Wily's the one who killed them... not you..."  
  
"But I didn't do anything to help them... I'm no better than Wily... I don't deserve anything... even my life..."  
  
"Stop it," he said coldly. I froze and tried to pull away, turning my face from him in shame.  
  
"I would NEVER," he began, "...place you on the same level as that... monster masquerading as a man! Don't you dare tell me you're just like him! And don't even think that you shouldn't live... dammit, Rock gave his life for you! Do you understand how much he loved you? How much he wanted you to live?"  
  
"I don't deserve his love..."  
  
"It didn't matter to him! He loved you anyway... just like I do."  
  
I turned my head back to stare deep into his glittering emerald eyes that were brimming with tears again.  
  
"Do you know how hard I worked to get you back? I nearly killed myself a few times in the training room! Everything wasn't enough... because I had lost you, and I never want to again... It hurt me so much that I had failed to protect you, and I would have done anything to get you back... and I guess I blame Rock right now, because he was really the one who saved you... I was the idiot who thought I could beat Bass, and ended up unable to help Rock... he saved me, too... And I blame myself. He always was the hero, while I was just the wannabe..." he trailed off into silence, averting his gaze from me.  
  
I never realized that he had felt that way... and I mentally beat myself for it. All I had thought about was myself... how had I become so selfish!? I looked into his eyes and saw his pain... the pain that mirrored my own... he and I were the same, sharing our sorrow.  
  
"Zero... I never meant to be such a burden on any of you... I didn't think---"  
  
He silenced me with a kiss, brushing my tears away with both thumbs as his hands moved to my face. It began gently, sweetly, but intensified as our feelings of grief, regret and the love that had grown from our separation surfaced... How I'd missed him...  
  
All too soon I had to break away to breathe, and also because my headache was returning quickly...   
  
"What is it?" he asked in concern, pressing his forehead to mine.  
  
"I'm all right," I lied, pecking him on the lips. "Don't worry..."  
  
He kissed me again, and I melted in his arms. "I won't let you go again," he promised. "You were never a burden, my love."  
  
"Zero... you were always my knight in shining armor..."  
  
There we stayed in our own little world... just content in being together again.  
  
  
  
It became late, and so I left his room to see how Grandfather was. I found him in the lab, bending over the remains of a robot...  
  
"Blue!" I exclaimed as I recognized the auburn hair and cracked grey armor.  
  
"Sierra," Grandfather asked me sternly after jumping in surprise. "Why did you bring him here? Do you know who this is? It's Protoman, the one who helped Dr. Wily abduct you! He's barely alive... and in three pieces, too!"  
  
"Grandfather... don't you remember?" I said sadly. "It's Blue... Daddy's robot..."  
  
"What?" he looked at me in surprise, then back down at the unconscious robot. "It can't be! I thought he disappeared..."  
  
"Wily had stolen him... before... before the fire." I couldn't say 'before my parents died,' because it hurt too much, and it would make Grandfather even sadder... "Can you fix him? Reprogram him? Maybe Wily didn't erase his original memory chips..."  
  
"I... could try..." he stammered, still unbelieving to Protoman's true identity. "It will take some time... but I must work fast! We're losing him even as we speak! Shoo, Sierra, so I can work!" With renewed vigor he waved a hand of dismissal at me before picking up his tools. Smiling for the first time that day I left the room in a daze, happy that an old friend had returned to us.  
  
Then my thoughts turned to Bass... my creation that Wily had turned completely against me... could I possibly get him back? There really was no choice, for he would not be so easily destroyed... and I didn't want to kill him... I had to find a way to return him to his original self, to somehow deactivate the controller... and to do that I needed Bass's blueprints and specifications. How, though? I couldn't go back to Skull Fortress... neither could Zero... far too risky and dangerous just for some 'bot plans...  
  
Think, Sierra, I said to myself. How can I get to those blueprints without Wily finding out? If only I had some kind of spy camera... wait a minute...  
  
"That's it!" I exclaimed, remembering the tiny bug camera I had built before Wily had activated my mind-control device. I had only to set the code for activation and it would work! Most likely Wily didn't need the schematics for Bass since he was complete, so they were probably still in my cell back at the fortress! So... I needed to somehow input the code and set the transmit to the lab here...  
  
With my goal in mind I walked quickly to my room, sat down at the worktable and started tinkering right away with my spare metal parts and tools on the bench...  
  
Author's Note: Review pleez! The more I get the faster I write! Hope you enjoyed! The next chapter will be a lot longer (I hope) and it will probably be another cliffhanger! ~Sierra Omega~  



	15. Awakenings and Revelations

Chapter Fifteen: Awakenings and Revelations  
Author's Note: Okay... maybe it's not as long as I had originally intended... but I'll try to make the next few chapters even longer! A new addition to the Light household finds himself receiving different kinds of welcome...  
  
  
I awakened on a cold lab table... with bright lights in my eyes. I closed them momentarily to adjust, for I don't have my visor on for some reason... wait a second... wasn't I dead? After the bomb blast... and Bass... what the hell?!  
  
I sat up quickly, only to fall back down to the table for I was so weak. "Where am I?" I called out into the vast room. "Hey! Anybody there?!"  
  
"What?" came a groggy-sounding voice from nearby. Suddenly a shadow fell over me and I found my eyes focusing faster upon an old man's face... was it Wily??  
  
"Get away from me you old bastard! I don't work for you anymore, Wily!" I shouted, cursing my weakness and inability to defend myself.  
  
"Hold on there," the voice said, and I could tell then that it was not Wily's for this voice was too kind and calming... unlike my old master's whiny and high-pitched shriek tone. "You're safe Blue... I mean Protoman. I've nearly completed repairing you, but I must have fallen asleep..."  
  
"What have you done to me? I feel weird... my head hurts..."  
  
"Ah..." he mused. "I found a small device that must have been keeping you under Wily's control, so I removed it. I wonder how long he had kept you like you were... in any case, you are free to do as you like now."  
  
"Who are you?" I demanded.  
  
"I am Doctor Light."  
  
"What?" That couldn't be! How did I get from Skull Fortress to here? "No way!"  
  
"Yes, well, believe what you like, because you're at my lab now thanks to my granddaughter's meddling... she says that you were a robot that her father... my son... created years ago."  
  
"Yes..." I thought back, and was surprised at how easily the repressed feelings came back to me..."I was created by a Doctor Daniel Light, but I was derived from your early 'bot designs and improved upon by one Sierra Light."  
  
The old man didn't respond, and as my vision cleared I could see that his face was a mask of shock. "That's... that's my son's name! So... you have to be Blue! Sierra was right after all!"  
  
"Sierra... is here? How did we get out?" I asked slowly, now feeling my strength return as I fluidly sat up. I looked over myself, seeing that my cannon was removed and my armor patched up. My helmet was nowhere to be found, nor my scarf... they must have been destroyed after the blast...  
  
"Yes, she is," Light responded. "She and Zero are just fine... you returned here with them earlier today... and you were just barely alive! I had to replace an arm and one leg, as well as dozens of other smaller things. What the devil happened?"  
  
I ignored his question as his words sank in... "Where's my brother? Where's Rock?"  
  
He looked away, but I could se the aged eyes fill with tears. No...  
  
"Rock died... trying to save all of you..." he replied bitterly. "He was severely injured when he piloted the aircraft back here... but he didn't survive..."  
  
"No..." I whispered. Why did it all happen to me? I had been taken from my creators, brainwashed... and then I had helped kill my own brother... was this all to spite me? Was Fate so desperate to destroy me??  
  
"Grandfather? What's the matter?" called a soft voice. The two of us turned to see Sierra there, and I was ashamed to see the state that she was in... I regretted everything that had happened to her, even if it wasn't directly my fault...  
  
"Nothing is wrong, my dear," he reassured her gently. "I was just conversing with our friend here... don't worry-- Wily doesn't control him anymore."  
  
"I thank you... both of you... for that," I added. "Now I'm free."  
  
"Yes, well, there was nothing to it." The old man scratched his head, apparently embarrassed. "At least I'm pretty sure he won't hurt us."  
  
"I don't think he will," Sierra said quietly, meeting my gaze. I saw for the first time how clear her eyes were without the influence of Wily's implant in them... she seemed incredibly mature for her young age...  
  
...Just like the girl I was programmed to know, years ago. As Wily's hold upon me faded I began to remember my original programming to serve as a companion for a girl named Sierra, as well as a lab assistant for her father, Daniel Light... The woman in front of me was that girl... but her father was gone, by Wily's hand no doubt.  
  
After a few moments of silence that hung between us all, she spoke again. "You must be uncomfortable Bl-- I mean Protoman--"  
  
"That's all right, Miss Sierra," I interrupted. "I am no longer Wily's puppet, so therefore I am not Protoman. Please call me Blue, if you want to."  
  
She smiled. "All right... Blue. Would you like me to show you your room?"  
  
"No, Sierra," Light cut in. "You shouldn't even be up and about right now. You need to rest..."  
  
"I've been up for hours," she countered. "I can't sleep after remembering all that I'd done... and it will be a long time before I sleep again."  
  
The doctor fell silent, his face grim and pained. I could see that they had all worked hard to get her back... and at such horrible cost... Damn Wily...  
  
"So, Blue?" she repeated, smiling again. "You coming?"  
  
I hesitated. "Um... sure," I replied finally, hopping off the table to follow her.  
  
  
The walk through the halls was uncomfortably silent, for I didn't know what to say to her. What could I say? I'd been the one who kidnapped her, helped Wily control her, and kill Rock. I cursed at myself... wishing I could die. I didn't know how I could live with these horrible memories... even if my actions had for years been pulled by Wily on a puppet's strings and I had been controlled so my only freedom was thought... they were still my actions. I hated myself for all I'd done... I wanted so badly to go back and change it all...  
  
"Here we are."   
  
Her soft voice cut into my thoughts, and I shook my head so I could look at her quizzically. She gestured... almost reluctantly I noted... at a door in front of us. I opened it slowly, and saw a pretty-well-kept room shaded in hues of blue and black, and the stasis chamber in one corner looked used...  
  
"It was Rock's room," she said before I could ask. From the corner of my eye I saw her shoulders slump and her gaze fall so that I could not see her expression. I didn't need to see it though to know ow she was feeling...I know how she missed Rock. I did, too, to a degree... but it wasn't even near the magnitude of Sierra's pain... for she had known him longer than I...  
  
"I hope you'll be comfortable," she added before turning away. "If you need anything I'll be working next door... in my room."  
  
"Thank you," I replied, not turning around to face her. I heard the door shut, and I was alone again... alone in the room of my dead brother.  
  
Rock, I thought, hoping that somewhere he could hear me. I'm sorry...  
  
I'm sorry...  
***  
  
  
The next morning I woke up to a soft knock on my door, and I raised my head from my worktable to see sunlight streaming through my windows.  
  
"Miss Sierra?" came the voice of the knocker. It was Blue. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Come in, Blue... I'm okay."  
  
He entered slowly, leaving the door open. I rubbed my eyes to clear hazy vision and ran a hand through my hair. Finding a multitude of tangles I sighed as I hunted for a brush.  
  
"Am I bothering you?" he asked politely, and I turned and saw clearly for the first time his grey-green eyes and auburn hair. He looked remarkably like Rock... so much that a pang of sadness embedded itself in my heart, and I couldn't stop the tears from welling in my eyes.  
  
Sensing my distress he took a step back towards the door. "I'll come back another time..."  
  
"No..." I said, waving him forward. "It's okay... the sun got in my eyes."  
  
"Oh. I can close the window..."  
  
"No, really, it's fine Blue," I smiled. "Don't worry about it."  
  
"All right." I motioned to a chair in one corner, and he pulled it up to next to mine. Ignoring him for a moment, I grabbed my hairbrush and proceeded to tackle the tangles. After a few seconds of this I hit a particularly large knot and tugged a bit too hard...  
  
"Ack!" I exclaimed. "Ooowww..."  
  
"Sierra?" Blue inquired in concern. "What's wrong?"  
  
I grimaced. "Nothing... I'm just having trouble with this. Did you need to talk to me?"  
  
He was silent for a time, and I turned to stare at him when he didn't respond. His stormy gaze met my quizzical one, and I saw his turmoil. The poor guy... being controlled by Wily really took its toll... just look at me!  
  
"I... um, that is--"  
  
"Sierra!" called a voice as the door opened. "Are you up yet-- AHHH!"  
  
Suddenly Zero was in my room, saber activated. "What the HELL is HE doing here!? Get away from Sierra, you bastard!"  
  
"NO! Zero, STOP IT!" I screamed as I got in front of Blue. "Don't hurt him!"  
  
The blond robot regarded me in shock and anger. "Sierra... but he's the one who killed Rock! He kidnapped you and helped Wily! Why are you defending him? Get away!"  
  
"No. Zero... none of it was his fault... he wasn't even doing those things of his own accord. My father built Blue... and now we have him back... and I won't let you hurt him... he's not going to hurt me."  
  
Both seemed dumbfounded by my words, but I stood firm. Zero held my gaze, then finally sighed and deactivated his saber. "All right. But if I find out that he harms you in any way..."  
  
"Hey, I get the drill, Red," Blue cut in. "Lay off already." He got to his feet, glanced at me, then glared at Zero before striding from the room.  
  
I watched him go, then turned away from my remaining visitor. "I can't believe you did that!" I said coldly. "Without even giving him a chance to defend himself!"  
  
After saying those words I felt his arms surround my waist, his breath on my ear. "Forgive me... I didn't know he came back with us... but I still don't trust him, and neither should you."  
  
"You don't know him, Zero. He was in here for ten minutes and I was fine!"  
  
"You don't know him either, Sierra! Sure, your dad built him, but all these years he's been working for Wily! How do you know that Wily didn't make it so that he was sent here as a spy? An assassin to kill us all? Jeez... you're far too trusting for your own good. You know that?"  
  
I was silent, and his hold around me tightened slightly.  
  
"I just don't want to lose you again, Sierra," he went on. "I'd sooner rip out all of my circuits and use my saber on myself!"  
  
"Don't," I scolded, leaning back against his muscled form. "Don't even joke like that."  
  
"I wasn't joking."  
  
"You'll easily outlive me, Zero. You're practically immortal."  
  
"I'd hate that," he mused. "Living an eternity without you..."  
  
I had to laugh at that. "You know, sometimes you can be so sweet... and then you go and say something corny like that--" I was cut off by his lips upon mine in a fierce, but swift, kiss.  
  
"Now," he said huskily. "Was THAT corny?"  
  
"Never said I didn't like corny..." I teased, and was rewarded with another kiss. "Did you need something? I was about to get back to work..."  
  
He frowned again. "After all that Wily did to you, you want to WORK? Are you nuts?"  
  
"For your information, I've been trying to find a way to get Bass's plans from Skull Fortress without actually going there. That way if we get the plans I can come up with something that will deactivate him!"  
  
"Wouldn't it be easier to just go and break him into tiny pieces?" he asked in a slightly irritated tone.  
  
"Always thinking with that plasma sword, huh?" I scolded. "If we get Bass back, he'll be our best weapon against Wily!"  
  
"But right now he is HIS best weapon against US!" he countered. "See what I'm talking about?"  
  
"Wily needs time to figure out how to completely control Bass, because before he would only do what I told him to do. Even with the remote Wily's using, the control isn't foolproof, and he'll want to make sure that Bass won't rebel again."  
  
He sighed, looking into my eyes in tired exasperation. "All right, but can't you eat something first? You don't look like you've been fed well the past few weeks."  
  
I grinned. "As a matter of fact, I'm starving! Let's go into town and eat!"  
  
"Okay," he replied with a nod.  
  
"And I'll go ask Blue if he wants to go along..."  
  
:"WHAT?"  
  
"Oh, come on, Zero! At least I won't be with him alone! He needs some time to get adjusted!"  
  
Another sigh. "I never could say no to you..."  
  
"Aw, you're the best, Zero!" I giggled, lightly kissing his nose before breaking free from his embrace to go ask Blue if he wanted to join us.  
  
  
Author's Note: Hmm... what was Blue/Protoman trying to tell Sierra? Are Zero's suspicions true? Review, and I'll get the next chapter out really fast! ~=) ~Sierra Omega~   



	16. Broken Hearts and Tormented Minds

Chapter Sixteen-- Broken Hearts and Tormented Minds  
Author's Note: Minna, I am SO sorry for taking so long on this one... can you believe I got writer's block? It's all good now... I have a good base for the next three or four chapters now! Enjoy and please review!  
  
Damn, I hated that robot... he was so arrogant... and for him to be the favorite of Sierra was beyond me. How could... How could a robot and a human have feelings for one another? Granted, I myself felt a small affection towards her, for she was the one who freed me from Wily... and trusted me where that bastard Zero did not.  
  
What could she see in him? It was mind-boggling to attempt to understand that... he was cocky, bull-headed, foul-mouthed, and for heaven's sake, he looked like a freaking girl! With that long blond ponytail of his... jeez. Who created him, anyway?  
  
Just as I continued to bash at Red in the depths of my mind, someone knocked at my door. I whirled around in the small room, nearly knocking over the chair next to the small desk. I cursed beneath my breath.  
  
"Come IN!" I yelled, but the door didn't open.  
  
"B-blue?" said a voice from the other side. "Are you okay in there?"  
  
It was Sierra. "Oh... damn..." I walked over to the door, cracking it open with a soft creak. "I'm sorry, Sierra. I've been a bit busy in here."  
  
"Oh." She looked around the room with a long gaze, and I saw her trying not to reveal emotion in her features. Finally, she saw the concerned look on my face, and a tear escaped her eye... She was so weak for a human... more emotional than Wily ever was, but Wily never stirred my feelings like she did. Something tugged at my consciousness that somewhat annoyed me, but the wave of emotion flowed over me and caused my face to soften.  
  
"What?" I asked, a little more harshly than I had intended.  
  
"N-nothing... you just..." she trailed off, her eyes not leaving mine. I nearly drowned in her sorrowful deep-blue eyes as she stood before me... What was going on? What was wrong with her... even better question; what the hell was wrong with ME?  
  
"What is it, Sierra?" I insisted, frowning. She shied back a bit, studying my features. She still had dark circles under her eyes from Wily's control over her, and she was thinner than when he had first abducted her... but beneath these things I saw her true strength and determination, her drive to protect others and compassion for life. It surprised me to see that in her... a human. I had only seen that kind of drive once before... in a blue robot that no longer existed.  
  
She narrowed her eyes in pain as her intense stare bored through me. I took a small step towards her, and she seemed to suddenly snap out of her trance. Now new emotion crossed her face, more intense than anything.  
  
"You look so much like him..." she murmured.  
  
Oh damn... she had to say that. Now I saw that it was me that was hurting her... and a part of me NEVER wanted to do that... what was I to do?  
  
"I... I know..." I replied. She raised a hand to my hair, twisting some gently between her fingers as her palm brushed my cheek. I struggled to retain my composure... something about her was electrifying. But... as much as I was surprised by the touch her expression didn't change... I wondered if she knew what she was doing.  
  
"God..." she was saying. "So much like Rock..."  
  
Unfamiliar haze drifted across my vision as I raised my gloved hand to cover hers. My cybernetic heart was pounding... and wave upon wave of feelings crashed into me again and again. But... it wasn't me that she saw...  
  
"I'm not Rock," I whispered. "Rock is gone... forever."  
  
She shook her head slowly. "No... he's still alive. His memory will live on forever... and I see him in you, too..."  
  
"I'm not Rock," I repeated, more firmly. "I'm just an earlier model... a machine with no feeling and no place in this world."  
  
"That's not true."  
  
"It is!" I exclaimed, whirling away. "I was taken from my home long ago, and remade to be a heartless and cruel fighter... with a black conscience... if I even have one left!"  
  
And with that I ran past her, and out the door. I had no idea where I was going... I couldn't see anything as I passed through the lab and into the outside world. Not stopping there I continued tearing down the sidewalk, trying to flee from my emotions... and my memories...  
***  
  
  
"Blue!" I called as he ran from the room. "Come back!"  
  
What happened? Had I said something wrong? It didn't matter... all I knew was that Wily was out there, somewhere, and for Blue to take off like that was a horrible risk to take.   
  
"Zero!" I screamed, not knowing what else to do. "ZERO!"  
  
He came running in seconds, standing in front of me and seemingly looking for the aggressor. "Where is he?!" he demanded. "What did he do?!"  
  
"No... he didn't do anything Zero... but Blue... he ran off!!"  
  
He sighed, relaxing, and gave me a dark look. "All for the best, Sierra. I never liked him anyway, and he's probably gone back to Wily where he can tell him what he found out about us! I hope he falls in a river and rusts, that unfeeling monstrous bast--"  
  
I slapped him across the face in a fit of anger. He just stood there, unmoving and in shock. When he finally turned his face back to mine, I saw with horror his emerald eyes wide in shock and pain. I was frozen, transfixed, my hands covering my mouth.  
  
Oh no... what did I do? I demanded of myself. What have I done??  
  
I backed away in frightened shock, my gaze never leaving Zero's pained one. He said nothing as his cheek turned red, and I could see the imprint that my small hand had made...  
  
I couldn't take it... I couldn't look at him after doing that! I turned on my heel and fled out of the room as Blue had just done, tears streaming from my face. But before I could get very far a large hand grabbed my arm firmly.  
  
"I won't let you go after him, Sierra," he said as an almost desperate plea. "It's too dangerous..."  
  
"I DON'T CARE!" I shouted, sobbing even harder. "I WON'T lose any more friends... never again! Even if that costs me my life!"  
  
"Sierra--"  
  
"Let me go! Right now!" Not waiting for a response I jerked my arm out of his grasp and began running again. As my feet flew fluidly and blindly I could hear Zero's strangled gasp, and choked sob.  
  
"SIERRA!"  
  
  
I had no idea where I was going... all that mattered to me was finding Blue. I stopped at a street corner to catch my breath and hastily wipe away the offending tears that masked my vision. It was now late afternoon, and the sun had begun to become overcast with dark clouds. I gazed at the sky for a moment, sensing that it would soon rain. I had to find him, and fast, before something horrible happened to him.  
  
I thought about his reactions back in his room... I felt so horrible about what I had said. I realized right then that I had upset him by mentioning Rock... the poor 'bot was just as shaken as I was about it! How cruel I was to bring it up... to expose memories that will undoubtedly haunt him forever. But he wasn't alone in his sorrows... he had to know that! We all were suffering from the loss... but I was somewhat comforted that he had died nobly and valiantly while trying to save us. He hadn't cared about himself... only getting the rest of us home, and I forever thanked him for it.  
  
Rock, I thought sadly. I'm so sorry for all that I did, and also for what I never had the chance to do. I'm trying to help Blue as you would have done... but what would you do now? How I wish you were here...  
  
Lightning, followed by a clap of thunder. I jumped, not realizing how long I had been standing there on the empty corner. I cursed at myself for wasting time, and started walking in a random direction to continue my search.  
  
Minutes passed, and perhaps even hours, but still no sign of the red-and-grey robot. I was quickly losing any hope of finding him, because if he didn't want to be found, he could easily blend in with a crowd since his arm cannon and helmet were removed. Light mist hung over the street, dampening my skin. Soon I felt one or two drops of rain, then multiplying into a few, and then multitudes of pelting bits of falling tears of the sky. I didn't care, and barely noticed my shirt and clothes become soaked from the downpour. Did I care about the forked lightning splitting the sky and the rolling waves of clamorous thunder shaking the earth beneath my feet? No... It all didn't matter anymore.  
  
"BLUE!" I began shouting at irregular intervals over and ver, depleting my already-reduced strength from running. "Where are you? Answer me, please! BLUE!"  
  
In desperation I gathered my strength for a long sprint down the street, screaming the robot's name one more time as I did so. Once I could run no more, let alone speak, I became clumsy and slipped on the slick sidewalk... I fell on my side and bruised my head, and my consciousness slid... further and further, until I thought I was imagining a voice that called my name...  
  
***  
  
"Sierra! Sierra!" Damn... what had she done to herself? Running out here in this weather... but I knew that it was all my fault anyway. I had been too upset, too angry at the time to realize that she would come after me... her kind heart wouldn't let me just up and go like I had done. I placed a hand to her forehead, only to quickly draw it back in shock from her high fever...  
  
"Sierra!" I shouted at her above the roar of pouring rain. "Wake up! Come on... please wake up!"  
  
Author's Note: Hope you liked! Review!!  
  



	17. Demons of Crimson Darkness

Chapter Seventeen: Demons of Crimson Darkness  
  
Author's Notes: Gomen, minna! I am SOOO sorry for taking so long... but I posted a bunch more... and Part One will shortly be concluded and posted within the next couple of days. A word of warning... there is cursing ahead between Blues and Zero. Enjoy, and please review!  
  
"Sierra!" I shouted at her above the roar of pouring rain. "Wake up! Come on... please wake up!"  
  
She didn't move, and I could just barely make out her breathing, the slight rise and fall of her chest becoming smaller each time... no...  
  
"Dammit, you IDIOT!" I shouted to her. "How can you be so stupid? Wear yourself out and come running after me without anyone with you... Zero's going to kill me for this!" I trailed off, my anger moving to direct back at myself. But now was not the time to spread the blame... I had to get Sierra back to the lab, and quick. Swiftly I picked her up, holding my body at an angle to shield her from the cold downpour. Blindly I began to run, my memory of where I had run the only thing guiding me back. I only prayed then that I would be fast enough... that my circuits wouldn't freeze...  
  
I don't know how long it was; I didn't care... I just kept on going. I looked down at the girl in my arms and gasped in terror as I realized that her lips were now blue, and her shivering had increased greatly...  
  
I plowed forward at more than top speed, my equivalent of human adrenaline kicking in with the fear in backseat... my eyes lifted to the pavement once more, and dimly the tall architecture of Dr. Light's lab came into view... and a lone figure running towards us.  
  
"Help!" I called out, the rain shorting out my optics so that I couldn't identify the runner. "She needs help!"  
  
Still running, I rammed into the person... but he braced himself to keep from falling, grabbing Sierra from me. "Hey! Get out of the way! I have to get help..."  
  
"Go away, bastard... this is your fault and I won't let you hurt her again!"  
  
Red Demon himself. Hell, I REALLY didn't want to deal with him right now... But there was no way around it... so I got to the point.  
  
"Look, man, I don't want to deal with you right now--"  
  
"Then get your sorry ass away from Sierra."  
  
"Just SHUT UP ALREADY, ZERO!" I shouted, my face going as red as his armor, "Flatten that oversized ego of yours and PAY ATTENTION! Can you throw away your pride long enough to save Sierra's life?! Or is she just second to yourself?"  
  
"Shut up, 'Blues'. You don't know anything--"  
  
"No, dammit, YOU shut up! I don't have time for this!" Without waiting for his usual smart-ass comments I retrieved Sierra from him and bolted the remaining path to the lab.  
  
'Hold on, Sierra,' I prayed. "LIGHT! DOCTOR LIGHT!" I screamed.  
  
The old man came hurtling through a door, out of breath as he exclaimed, "What's happened?" Then he saw Sierra. "Oh my god... what HAPPENED?" But he refused to wait for my answer and pulled me by the arm to Sierra's room. Gingerly I held her as Light set up some sort of device unfamiliar to me, bringing in what looked like my sleep capsule from a closet.  
  
Opening it he motioned to me, urging speed. I placed the shivering girl inside almost reluctantly, brushing dripping hair from her pained face...  
  
"Will she be all right?" I blurted out, emotions flowing in a rush.  
  
The doctor considered me a moment, and managed a small smile. "Yes... after a few hours she'll be fine... this is a regeneration capsule that was, as you can tell, developed from a robot's sleep capsule... all we have to do is leave her alone for a while."  
  
Taking the hint I walked out of the room, only to bump into a certain Red Demon on the way.  
  
"What do you want?" I growled, receiving a punch in the face in direct response. I went flying, and promptly crashed into a nearby computer console-- needless to say it had some dents and torn wires added to the design... I clutched my arm in pain, and as I lifted my hand away it gaped at the robotic blood streaming from an ugly wound, not to mention the trickle of liquid from my lip... My gaze hardened and lifted to meet Zero's, hate emanating from my very core.  
  
"What, the HELL... WAS THAT FOR?" I punctuated every word, and my fury could not be mistaken. I was even satisfied to see the other 'bot flinch briefly before regaining his composure.  
  
"WELL?" I asked loudly.  
  
He didn't answer at first; seemingly enjoying the heavy silence and increasing tension of suspense. "For coming near her," he replied at last, raising his head to look down at me. His tall form would have intimidated anyone else, but I knew better than to let it get to me.  
  
"How stupid are you?" I yelled, wiping the blood from my face in fury. "You're mad at me because I was trying to save her life? There is something REALLY WRONG with you!"  
  
"It's none of your damn business what happens to her! Stay out of it... it wasn't your job to find her!"  
  
"Oh, really?" I shot back. "Then why didn't you go and look for her? You just let her run after me!"  
  
"Oh, like she'd give a damn about you."  
  
"Well, at least I have the heart to give her a chance and TRY TO PROTECT HER!"  
  
That did it. A flash of green and red, then I was pinned against the wall, Z-saber microns from my neck.  
  
"One step too far, PROTOMAN," he snarled. "You have no right to say that after what you and Wily did to her, you bastard!"  
  
"It's not like I had the choice!" I shot back, defiant to the end. "Again I state; YOU NEVER WENT AFTER HER!"  
  
"Shut UP."  
  
"No, I won't! Something happened, didn't it? You badmouthed and she ran off, isn't that right?" I looked him in the eye, his emerald eyes alight with barely caged rage.   
  
"I can see it!" I continued, using the advantage. "I think she's had enough of you! After all, you let Rock die! You let her get kidnapped, and allowed yourself to get whipped by Bass! I can see why she would hate you now!"  
  
At that the Red Demon, for demon he had now become, roared in my face and threw his saber-arm back to strike. I never moved, just stared him down.  
  
"Now she'll truly hate you..." I murmured with a sneer. "For killing me... I'm only sorry I couldn't make up for lost time, no thanks to you."  
  
"ZERO! BLUES! What in the world are you doing?!" Doctor Light himself barged into the room, pulling Zero forcefully away from me. "Now is not the time for this! We can't be fighting amongst ourselves while Wily is on the loose! Now, more than ever we have to trust each other, or Bass will help that madman destroy us all! Do you hear me, Zero? We can't afford to waste time!"  
  
The Red Demon continued to stare at me, but I could see his features soften the slightest bit at the doctor's words. I also found myself moved by the speech, realizing how pointless it had been to provoke Zero...  
  
At last, the glowing Z-saber was sheathed, but the look of hatred remained engraved within his features. His gaze permeated my own continuously, his mouth now a firm line of finally contained anger. I didn't dare drop my eyes... there was no way I would ever let him know that he had any power over me whatsoever.  
  
Still standing my ground I asked of Doctor Light, "How is she?"  
  
He glanced at me a bit curiously, noting that I was still challenging the Red Demon. "She'll be all right, with some rest," he answered at last. "It's good that you got her back here in time, Blues... she could have died."  
  
"I know." What more could I say? I was glad I could help her... in any way that I could...  
  
Almost inaudibly came a growl from the third occupant of the room, but the sound was quickly drowned out by the blaring annoyance of an insanely loud alarm.   
  
'What the hell?' I thought, turning to the monitors on the other side of the lab. The Doc hurried over to them, Zero and I close behind. He typed a few keys with lightning speed, causing the outer cameras to activate; and who should conveniently show up... yes. Bass.  
***  
  
That damn menace... how could he bother to show his ugly mug here now? This was REALLY starting to piss me off... first Sierra runs off, then Protoman gives me a bad-ass attitude; and now this. Dammit.  
  
"What's his location?" I asked the Doctor expectantly, my hand already going for my saber. I was eager to let out my stress on something, and it might as well be that Black Bastard. Now was my chance to avenge Rock! I wanted to do that on 'Blues', but that yellow-scarf-wearing turncoat was right in saying that Sierra would never forgive me. Damn him for that... she's too trusting for her own good! Why can't she see that he is pure evil!?  
  
"So let's go!" Blues was saying. I tuned back in, only to see Doctor Light giving me a raised eyebrow. I gave him a big grin, understanding immediately what I was about to do.  
  
"All right then, let's kick some robo-ass!"  
  
I decided to play it nice around Blues for the time being, considering he was my only ally against Bass. We ran side by side down the corridor of the lab, halting suddenly right in front of the heavy metal door. We still exchanged glares once every few strides, but I believed it was mutual that we had an obligation to work together... we could settle our personal battles later.  
  
We waited as Bass pounded at the doorstep, leaving pretty big dents in the titanium. I heard his intense curses and yells of frustration... and finally I could tell that he had begun to power up a plasma blast.  
  
"Ready?" Blues asked me, staring straight ahead and portable cannon at the ready... you see, the Doc was smart enough to remove his original cannon, but in such a case as this he always kept spares. Good thing too... I was pretty sure that I couldn't handle Bass alone after the bad beating I received last time. Not that it mattered, though... I wasn't prepared last time. I was going to kick his sorry metal ass this time! There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I couldn't beat him, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop me.  
  
At last, the final inches of the door were breached, and from the smoke and shadows stepped an even darker premonition--- Bass. He stepped forward slowly, his eyes gaining an eerie green highlight from my activated saber as the pupil-less black traveled from me to Blues. At the latter he nodded crisply, as if a mockery of respect.  
  
"Protoman," he stated.  
  
"Bass," Blues growled back, mouth curling into a snarl. "You shouldn't have come here."  
  
"I go wherever I want, whenever I want. And must I demonstrate once more that there is absolutely NOTHING that you can do to stop me?"  
  
"Shut up." The gray robot started towards his opponent, almost radiating in fury. However I sidestepped to intercept him, my free arm raising to block. This earned another growl from my companion, except now directed at me.  
  
"This isn't your affair, Zero," he spat. "You had your chance... it's my turn for payback."  
  
"You got blown up last time," I sneered in return. "My fight never finished."  
  
"Will the two of you please shut up and make up your minds already?" Bass taunted. "I ain't got all day. Whose funeral's first?"  
  
"Damn you!" Blues shouted, and shoved me aside as he charged at the black devil with cannon ready. I reeled back in surprise, but decided to let the 'bot go at it. If he wanted to kill himself, fine; at least that way I wouldn't have to get my hands dirty.   
  
Blues fired a series of thee successive shots, all aimed at Bass's chest. Bass lost his balance, but it was only a momentary setback at he released a volley of his own plasma fire. Blues dodged most of them with ease, but at the close proximity he had put himself in led to a great disadvantage. A pot shot stuck home, hitting the gray robot's cannon arm and rendering it useless for the remainder of the battle.  
  
"DAMMIT!" Blues shouted, collapsing to his knees. Bass let out a loud cackle that could have soured milk and cause a banshee herself to fall silent, eyes glittering maniacally.  
  
"Idiot!" I told Blues. "I told you not to go after him!"  
  
"You shut up, Zero!" he snapped back at me while clutching his injured arm to stop the bleeding. "It's not like you have much of a chance anyway!"  
  
"You two are very amusing," the devil cut in, crossing both arms and tapping his left foot in boredom. "But I didn't come to destroy you... yet." He pulled from his back a small pistol-like object, a cross between a syringe and small blast cannon. He aimed at Blues and myself back and forth in a slow, easy motion, as if a demonic "Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo" were taking place.  
  
"Hmm... which to infect?" he was muttering to no one in particular. "But Wily said it didn't matter which one got it... they'd both get it eventually! Oh well!" The barrel stopped at last to me, followed by a wide grin. "All right then... say goodbye!"  
He fired, and a streak of blue lightning shot out of the weapon to envelop me in silver sparks and light. I shuddered involuntarily, and my knees buckled from the weight of my weakening body attempting to hurl itself to the floor.  
  
"Zero!" Blues shouted. "Are you all right?" To Bass, "What the hell did you do? What is that thing?"  
  
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," the black bastard replied in a singsong voice. "Bye all!"  
  
  
AN: Don't kill me! Most Megaman fans... especially those fond of the X series will know what I've done to the Red Demon (hee hee) but for those who don't... read on... ~Sierra Omega~  
  



	18. Creeping Shadows

Chapter Eighteen: Creeping Shadows  
  
Author's Notes: Hello again! This chapter begins still in Zero's POV... and just so I don't have to say it every chapter... there will be CURSING in most future chapters. If someone wants me to tone it all down, I shall in the future... anyhoo... enjoy Chapter 18!  
  
  
It hurt... Dammit, it hurt! I don't know what I was doing... I was unaware of everything but the pain coursing through my body. I felt my rage and anger heighten tenfold... so much that my mental circuits had begun to go haywire! It was too much! Too MUCH!  
  
"AHHH!!!" I screamed as loud as my voice box would allow. "DAMN YOU BASS! DAMN YOU ALL! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"  
  
"Snap out of it, Zero!" Someone was shouting in my ears. I wildly threw an arm out to swat whoever it was that had spoken and was satisfied by the loud clang of metal against metal. A groan followed; then a growl of frustration.  
  
"Asshole!" he was muttering. "He's lost his mind! Doc! Doctor Light!"  
  
The voice became softer and softer as I heard the swift clicking of boots against a steel tiled floor... but my pain remained. I felt my weight become lead, and since I had already fallen to my knees, I was shortly lying on my side in a fetal position clutching my head... the sparks still clouded my vision, obscuring all but the red of my rage... why did it hurt so much?  
  
Then my internal systems began to overload... I could feel the wires and servos become white-hot and start melting even as the auto-repair tried valiantly to suppress it... I felt like I was going to die! No... screw the 'feel like'... I KNEW I was dying!  
  
On the verge of blacking out I threw my hand out once more, groping the metal floors for my saber. If I was going down... it was better to be painless and quick... a true warrior's demise... I managed to switch on the blade after messing with the hand controls for a minute or so, hearing the comforting hum of energy... yes, it was comforting to know I would go quickly... and with no regrets...  
  
"ZERO!"  
  
"Go away..." I mumbled absently. "Let me die in peace and quiet, dammit... leave me alone!" I slashed blindly, each swipe somehow comforting me further.  
  
"Zero..." a calmer voice... wise and almost soothing... but somehow it grated my nerves all at once...  
  
"Zero..." they continued. "Can you hear me? You aren't thinking rationally... you need to calm down and let us help you."  
  
"Shut up already," I snarled. "I am in pain and I want to die! Why am I denied my rights?"  
  
I heard a snort, and I felt my anger rise even more as I screamed again. Then, two arms hooked around my shoulders; I couldn't slice them if I had tried without killing myself too. Oh wait... wasn't that what I wanted? I pointed the saber at my midsection, a grin of triumph crossing my face... now my pain would end!  
  
"Oh, no you don't Red," that first voice said in an annoyed tone... I could sense the sneer in it. A kick from behind at my fist knocked the energy sword cleanly from my grasp and across the hall... Damn them!  
  
Releasing a battle cry from my lips I hurled myself backwards, knocking my captor against a wall with significant force amplified by my agony... they would now feel it too! The grip around me loosened slightly, but not yet enough to break free... with a grunt I repeated my motion, but still my opponent refused to let go.  
  
"Stop it, you idiot!" he was saying. "What's come over you!?"  
  
"LET ME GO!" I roared, each time I threw myself to the wall giving me more and more strength... now I could see! I didn't care about dying anymore... but inflicting pain on others covered my mind now! Pain! Suffering!  
  
"Zero! Cease this at once! You're killing Blues!" the second voice pleaded "Please stop! You can't do this! Open your eyes!"  
  
For a moment the voice struck a chord in me, and I paused in my onslaught. Immediately the iron hold on my shoulders went slack, and abruptly after my knees turned to gel once again. I looked around, blinking many times to clear my vision until my gaze settled on a figure in white...  
  
"Doctor... Light?" I croaked. "What...?"  
  
"Bout time you woke up... demon..."  
  
I whirled around, only to see in horror that Blues was slumped against the wall, nearing unconsciousness as I watched!  
  
"No..." I stammered. "What have I... done... what's WRONG with me?"  
  
"Calm down..." the doctor soothed, but I knew he was still wary that I might lose it again. What happened? What had Bass done to me?!  
  
"... let me examine you," I heard him continue, "I think Wily has injected your systems with a controlling agent..."  
  
I shook my head, eyes turning back to Blues. Just moments ago I was ready to kill him! But... hadn't I wanted that all along? I was so confused... and now that I saw the damage I'd done, I was disgusted. A hand fell onto my shoulder, gently urging me to stand.  
  
"He'll be all right... it's you I am more worried about right now," the Doctor's voice came again. As if a cue Blues staggered to his feet, glaring at me but grinning nonetheless.  
  
"Yeah... no real harm done," the grey robot assured.  
  
Somewhat comforted, I allowed myself to be led back to the lab for inspection and system check out.  
***  
  
  
What I had seen horrified me to no end. What in the world had Wily discovered that would turn a spirited soul as Zero's to utter and complete ruin? At one point, he had wanted to take his own life, then at another he was bent on killing another for his own pleasure!  
  
Without asking the blond 'bot took off his helmet and spread out on a nearby lab table to await instructions. He gave me a sad look, empty but yet full of regret and sorrow. I could understand... being that his actions were most likely not his own. I returned his emerald gaze with a small comforting smile, but the gesture seemed to discomfort him further. I felt Blues close by, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him leaning against the wall with arms crossed. Silent, but stormy green eyes held all the emotion he needed. He was terribly bitter... not only about his and Zero's previous fight, but now I knew slight concern bordered the fury within him now.  
  
"Zero, I am going to deactivate you to perform the systems check, all right?"  
  
The only reply being an almost imperceptible nod, I reached towards a panel only I knew of and cut Zero's power. He jerked for a moment, then was still as his eyes involuntarily closed. Though unable to react to anything around him the vestiges of a pained look remained on his features. It hurt me so to see this, but I wasted no more time on it as I began to type commands into my diagnostic computer. Schematics flashed across the screen in blue and white, checking every circuit from digestion processors to reflex and battle-strategy systems. So far nothing had shown up that was amiss, heightening my concerns greatly. Whatever Wily had done... was something beyond my comprehension... and it appeared that I couldn't even detect it!  
  
"Try this."  
  
I jumped in surprise at Blues's voice directly behind me, and turned to give him a puzzled look and raised eyebrow. Smirking a bit, he typed a few keys, an instantly a popup appeared on the monitor that flashed bright red.  
  
"There's your problem," he said, and while I was bursting to ask him what he had done I was more curious about the readings.  
  
"A virus?" I was amazed. There it was! Still, I couldn't pinpoint the matrix layout of the infection, I caught on quickly to the subroutines it affected.  
  
Blues voiced my conclusions without hesitation. "It magnifies a robot's ability to feel anger and rage, and brings it out into the open... and it gives them a sadistic quality that grows each time harm is done and increases their strength as well... it looks like they also deactivate the ethics circuitry too..."  
  
"...Thereby making them forget what is right and wrong!" I finished. How horrible! But it perfectly explained Zero's suicidal actions and increasing 'joy' in harming Blues!  
  
"Can you turn off his emotions, Doctor Light? That may get rid of the main problem..."  
  
I shook my head. "To do so I would completely have to reboot Zero and rewrite his whole personality, memory and brain... and I couldn't possibly do that!"  
  
The gray robot fell silent, musing with a deep frown on his features so much like Rock's. After a few moments he raised his head, steely green eyes meeting my gaze in the most serious manner. "Is it safe to reactivate him?" he said at last. "Am I in danger of being affected?"  
  
I couldn't say... there was no way to, and it appeared that my lack of voice was enough explanation for he nodded grimly and turned back to the robot on the table. Taking the cue I disconnected the diagnostics computer and switched Zero back on. Parts of him began to spasm as power rushed through them, and soon he opened his green eyes again painfully. A blue spark or two crackled around him, and I saw Blues tense from his position as he saw them.  
  
"Zero?" I asked carefully. "Are you all right?"  
  
He paused, sat up, and looked straight at me. "I am... for now at least... what is this thing, Doctor?"  
  
"A virus," Blues answered for me. "That turns you into a sadistic berserker. Clear enough?" It sounded as if he was making a joke, but that lack of a smile or a playful tone of voice made it that much more serious a giveaway. The red robot combed one hand through his long blond hair absently as he met Blues's gaze, and neither spoke for a time.  
***  
  
A virus... A little disease known in humans that have no cure except for perhaps time. Great... just what I needed to hear right now. And if what Blues said was true, I was a danger not only to myself, but also to all around me... including Doctor Light and Sierra.  
  
My thoughts traveled to the girl now being healed in a stasis chamber... to our earlier conversations about such things as Bass... Blues... us...  
  
Wait... Bass? The mention sent a cold wash of realization through me. Now that Sierra was in stasis, there was no one who could activate her spy camera at Wily's fortress! That meant we had no chance of deciphering the black abomination's weak spot... unless...  
  
"I have to go," I stated suddenly, jumping off the table smoothly. I grab my helmet, and reach for my forgotten saber nearby.  
  
"Wait a minute," Blues said, annoyed. "Where do you think you're going... in your predicament?"  
  
"I'm not dead yet, Blues, nor am I crippled," I stated matter-of-factly. "And if it is any of your business, which it isn't by the way, I am going to Skull Fortress."  
  
Both Doctor Light and Blues were taken aback by my answer... it seems that that wasn't the response they were expecting.   
  
"DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?" Blues roared. "What kind of a half-baked suicidal idea IS that?! What the hell FOR?"  
  
I looked at him, calmly but not lacking in the iciness I'd intended. "Sierra is sick. She was working very hard on a device that could have gotten us Bass's schematics so we could pinpoint a weakness. Now that she's not in any condition to continue that project I am taking it upon myself to go get the plans personally."  
  
"But..." Light stammered, still in a minor state of shock. "Must you go yourself? Is there not another way to go about this?"  
  
"I'm afraid not," I sighed heavily. "I can't continue Sierra's calculations, nor can anyone else because she's the only one who knows what she's doing."  
  
"Well, there's still the question of going alone..." he pressed. "If you meet Bass again there will be no one to help you! You could be destroyed!"  
  
"Sorry to break this to you, Doc, but I don't really give a damn about that right now." I paused, letting them absorb that. "This virus... I can feel it penetrating my operating systems and ethics programming... it's just not safe for me here. And if I do make it to the fortress safely, maybe I can scrounge up the antidote while I'm there."  
  
"And if there isn't one?"  
  
I looked away, and towards the room where a girl was recovering from an illness that I had brought upon her. "Then..." I couldn't finish. There was no way for me to know what would happen... and I could only hope for the best. I began to walk away from the other two occupants of the room, having not given me a reason or cause to stay behind... Heh. Not that they could change my mind... I knew that if I stayed here something would happen. Maybe Skull Fortress was the answer.  
  
I was halfway out the door to the lab when Blues called out to me.  
  
"I'll go with you, Red."  
  
I snorted. "You?" I spat. "What good are you to me? I'm better off alone... as I have always been."  
  
"Hey, I've given you a beating once or twice... virus killing off your memory chips? Give me two hours... Doctor Light will have my cannon repaired and I'll be ready to whip Bass's ass and hand it to you on a silver platter."  
  
"I doubt that," I sneered, throwing the look over my shoulder to him. "Considering you'll be toasted before taking a step, and I'll be out of there with the plans."  
  
"Zero, it's really a good idea," Light cut in. "After all, Blues knows the layout of the fortress already... he would be a great help to you."  
  
I considered a moment, frowning. He WAS right about that...if I went in there with no idea where I was going I would be easy prey to Bass, and it would be my luck to run into a dead end and be cornered.  
  
"All right," I replied gruffly. "Two hours."  
***  
  
  
Was he really going to wait? The last thing I needed was for that hothead to go off and get himself killed... and leave me alone to fight Bass. Though I DESPISED to admit it, we would make a good team. Besides, against a monster like that Black Bastard, two is a better number than one.  
  
I watched as he stalked off into the hallways... perhaps to go visit Sierra where she was still healing. I was still furious about what he'd done. How could he hate me that much? Perhaps I'd never know... but it wasn't the time to look back on past incidents; it was time to go forward to correct the errors and make way for a future...  
  
I laughed softly to myself... because now I was starting to sound like Rock! Rock... the brother I never truly got to know. What would he say now? The only way I could know him was through his strong spirit that still lived on in us, as long as we remembered him. And here was Zero, tarnishing the peace he died to protect by making grudges... and now look where it had got him.  
  
I'd heard Wily talking about this virus, but he mostly kept it to himself for reasons of confidentiality. He didn't even trust me with the information... now I saw why. Now that I was on the 'good' side, I could tell all; and I was VERY willing to... but I knew nothing.  
  
Now Sierra and Zero, like Rock had, were now suffering from the products of Wily's dangerously volatile but brilliant brain. Monster... I'd do anything to kill him now...  
  
But first things first. I turned to the aging Doctor Light, who was still standing beside me and looking after Zero's retreating form. "Well, back to work, I suppose," I grinned.  
  
He jerked as if coming out of a reverie, then returned my smile. "Yes, indeed. Let's get your new cannon attached... I believe I have a better one here than your original. Pardon me for saying so, but the one you had is VERY out of date..."  
  
"I bet it was," I chuckled. "Wily's known for making the robots; not upgrading them!"  
***  
  
"Sierra?" I called out softly. I entered the small room, suddenly finding myself awash in blue light from the regeneration capsule. I walked almost reverently to the thing, placing a hand on the window that revealed her face to me... the face that even now showed the strain of her suffering. My gaze dropped to the timer, which indicated that she would awaken in a few hours more.  
  
"I'm sorry..." I don't know if she could hear me, or if she could hear anything at all in there, but I had to say something... anything... before I left her again.  
  
"Sierra, I've been such a fool. But please understand... I never intended to hurt you... I just... after all that's happened I've felt so helpless when it comes to you... and I can't stand to see you hurt in any way."  
  
I sighed, gazing into the viewport. "I doubt that you can forgive a pitiful robot such as myself... hell, I don't deserve any attention you've given me... but I wanted to say... just once..."  
  
I took a deep breath... "...That I love you, Sierra, forever."  
There I stayed, watching over her for a time that seemed like months.  
  
  
I shut the door silently behind me, looking back at the capsule only once. I checked a nearby chrono... not even an hour had passed yet. Damn... time was running out... a limited supply that every wasted moment was fed to the gaping jaws of the virus as it consumed me from within. I felt the emotions stir within me, but I dared not direct them at anything for fear of losing control again. I thought of Blues; how I'd almost killed him in my oblivious actions. I couldn't let that happen to anyone else... and if the grey robot was that easy to harm in my condition then he was of no use to me in my mission. There was no sense in placing him into a battle situation where he would easily be shoved aside, useless.  
  
That was it, then. I would leave without him.  
***  
  
Author's Notes: More to come! REVIEW!!!!! Pleez? ~=)  



	19. Facing Fears

Chapter Nineteen: Facing Fears  
  
Author's Notes: Short, yes... but Chapter 20 is longer! Honest! This starts from Blues's POV... ~=)  
  
  
"Are you finished yet, Doc?" I asked impatiently.  
  
"Really now, Blues, I'm working as fast as I can, and whining makes it no faster!"  
  
"Sorry," I grumbled. How could I say that I didn't trust Zero to wait? How could explain a gut feeling that Zero wasn't in the mood for teamwork and had already probably left?  
  
And so I was forced to minimize my fidgeting as the good doctor tested the sensitive circuitry of my new blaster cannon, much more efficient and powerful than my old one, if I had read the blueprints right. I'd only gotten a glimpse before Light scolded me for getting in the way of his light. Feh... humans. I'll never fully understand them.  
  
At last the repairs, tests and checks were done... and I practically leaped from my seat to the halls where I'd seen the Red Demon haunt last. I checked every room, pausing at the regeneration alcove for a moment to look in on its occupant, but of course he wasn't in any of them. I'd guessed correctly. That idiot... and it was too late to go after him now.  
  
Finally I made it to the small garage at the other end of the house, noticing a faint odor of smoke as I realized one of the hover bikes was missing. Yep... he was long gone. Well, if he got himself killed, it was his own fault. My only concern was...if he really DIDN'T come back, what the hell was I going to explain to Sierra?  
  
Damn.  
***  
  
  
"Take care you guys," I murmured without looking back. By then I was already halfway to the fortress, and as the dark twisted spires came into view I activated the offensive systems. Instantly my helmet was connected to the hover bike's weapons and targeting, and a visor dropped down over my eyes as a visible radar-tracking computer.  
  
The bogies began swarming about two miles out... mostly Batontons-- annoying bat-like 'bots with pumped up lasers and are pretty small, making it hard to target them and get a good shot. The rest consisted of assorted junk bots too bulky to fly in a straight line-- what was Wily THINKING?-- and others with guided missiles. The latter I would have to deal with quickly, because the bike was my only method of escape... so much for getting in quietly!  
  
But as I came even closer to the misshapen castle of Doctor Wily I realized that the robots weren't paying any attention to me to all! Wary, I ventured closer in an attempt to discover what was occupying their attention...They were gathered near a raised platform at the foot of the gates, where two figures were standing. I kept a good distance while changing course to the eastern wings, and managed to magnify the images I was receiving. At the same time I picked up on radio frequency the following...  
  
  
And today it is our turn to get back at them! Doctor Light, that brat Sierra and their creations... oh yes and that traitor Protoman too... anyway... oh did I say Mega Man already? Um...  
What the Doc here is sayin' is... is that we're gonna kick their sorry asses outta here! They'll make way for a new era run by Doc Wily himself by bowing down to us, and being destroyed in front of the world as an example of our power!  
Yes... yes... that was very good, Bass! Very good indeed!  
Thank you, Doctor Wily.  
  
  
Dammit! I had to stay away from there for sure! This meant one thing... Wily was about to storm Dr. Light's lab and completely demolish it! And I was the only one who knew. Furthermore, I couldn't call back for fear of alerting anything to my presence...  
  
...which meant it was all up to me to stop the entire force. Just great... Not even the berserker benefit of my new virus could stop an entire invasion army! What could I do!?  
  
I guessed then that the best thing to do was continue on with the plan... find Bass's blueprints and the antidote. Once I had done that I could get back to the lab and help...  
  
But there would be no time! They were about to go RIGHT NOW... and while this gave me the opportune chance to get in quick and get out, I would be sentencing everyone back home to death... including Sierra, who would be helpless in her capsule as Bass would pummel it to smithereens...  
  
I felt the anger boiling, rising upwards to claim my mind. The rage shot streaks of red across my vision... blinding me from conscious, ethical thought. I laughed aloud, not caring who heard. What was at first a soft chuckle raised to a high-pitched and maniacal cackle that I never even knew I was capable of!  
  
NO! a distant part of me screamed, the only remnant of my normal self. FIGHT IT! DON'T LET THE VIRUS CLAIM YOU NOW! NOT WHEN EVERYONE NEEDS YOU!  
  
I was gone... long gone...  
  
AN: Again... don't kill me! Next chapter is up!  
  
  



	20. Of Red Demons and Black Monsters

Chapter Twenty: Of Red Demons and Black Monsters  
  
WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS VERY, VERY DARK. THERE IS VIOLENCE AND SWEARING... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. ZERO IS NOT HIMSELF, AS YOU WILL SOON SEE...  
  
  
The speeder turned around smoothly at my abrupt course adjustment. My target and trajectory: into the swarms of enemies. Laughing again I pulled my saber out and activated it, enjoying the low hum amplifying to a flaming roar in the wind of my speed.   
  
It was invigorating! The hilt felt like an extension of my arm as the surprised (and some still unaware) robots fell prey to my fatal strokes and slashes. Oil and bits of metal began flying about like a windstorm in a junkyard, the smell of scorched tin and titanium welcome in my nose. Every time one went down, two more came to replace it, making it all the more fun for me! Each swipe of my blade made me feel more and more powerful... but I craved a true challenge, and as the last Batonton was sent to the scrap heap my call was answered.  
  
"So it's you again is it?" Bass sneered as he looked down at me from the platform. Wily I could see behind him, already pulling his hair out at the loss of his precious robo-pets. My only response to this and the carnage around me was a wide grin.  
  
"NOOO!" the old man wailed. "My ROBOTS! DO SOMETHING, BASS!"  
  
"Yeah, sure thing Doc," he answered, gaze not braking mine. To me, "Looks like the virus got you already."  
  
Looking at the two of us in turn, it finally dawned on the idiot scientist. "You mean it works?"  
  
"Yeah, Doc," Bass sighed impatiently. I could tell he was itching to fight me... Heh... I was too... "It works. Just look at him, jeez!"  
  
He did, and broke into a gap-toothed grin. "He he he! You're right! Zero! You are now under my command! Welcome to--"  
  
"Oh, I'm afraid there's a problem," I cut in. "I don't follow orders from anyone, especially a dumb human like you, Wily."  
  
He seemed about to say something. Well shoot... heh heh... I'd already leaped at him, saber aimed to kill! But damn, just as I was about to spill his blood who would decide to interrupt but Bass himself!  
  
"So," I taunted. "The Black Bastard's got guts after all." I noted the concentrated look on his face as he focused the power in his violet plasma sword. "Are we having problems?"  
  
"Not at all," he smirked. "I'll just kill you, for I failed to do so a short time ago, then go carve my name in your girlfriend's heart. What do you think?"  
  
Rule Number One in dealing with me... don't change the subject. Rule Number Two: never mention Sierra. Needless to say I got rather pissed off and threw all of my weight into a vicious down-swipe of my sword.  
  
"Dammit!" Bass cried out as he was knocked over, sending Wily flying off the platform somewhere. I didn't care about him. My only concern was Bass.  
  
I felt even more power surge through me, little blue sparks and lightning visible as it danced over my armor. The black 'bot looked up at me, and for the first time I saw terror in his eyes... he was afraid, and I was happy. My eyes widened with my grin at an executed side-swipe/jab combination aimed at his leg armor, the added power and strength I had allowing me to slice through the tough metal cleanly. Mechanical blood spouted from the wound, causing Bass to scream out in agony.  
  
"Scream again!" I exclaimed, "It's funny!"  
  
"What the hell... is wrong with you..." he gasped as he tried to stanch the bleeding. "This wasn't... supposed to happen!"  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you, Bassie," I mock-pouted as I said this, "...but I don't give a damn what I'm supposed to be doing! I'm having too much fun!"  
  
"...Fun, huh... heh heh..." he breathed. "I'll... show you fun!"  
  
Suddenly he let out a shrill whistle that forced me to cover my ears. Following the high-pitched sound was a somewhat distant howl, and as I whirled to face where it came from a large shape came bounding from the fortress.  
  
"Zero... meet Treble."  
  
  
Treble. Very cute. I had to admit... very LITTLE thought went into that name! I mean, hell... Bass and Treble... I had to laugh at that! Wily must be completely obsessed with music or somethin'...  
  
Who cares... now it was time to put the doggy to sleep... heh heh...  
  
"Treble," Bass was saying fondly to the mutt. "I want you to destroy this guy, okay? Make him hurt... A LOT."  
  
Sounded like fun! However... it wasn't me who was going to feel the pain! I saw the purple and black robo-wolf turn to growl at me, on its haunches and ready to spring at his master's commands. I smirked. How could this thing be any match for me?  
  
Still grinning in amusement I raised a hand to motion towards myself, taunting the stupid thing. Its growl grew in volume, until finally it leaped through the air with rather impressive speed, bolts of purple plasma shooting from its outstretched front claws. I dodged them with a brisk side step and to my unexpected astonishment I watched as the bolts ate into the ground on impact: they were lined with strong acid!  
  
I had to get rid of this beast, and fast. I raised my saber to shield myself from another barrage of blasts, clenching my teeth in anticipation. It was almost in slow motion-- too slow for me-- that Treble soared through the air at me...   
  
I sliced...  
  
...And cleanly cut through the pooch's armor, right down the middle. Blood erupted from it as the two halves flew past either side of me, falling off the platform to join the rest of the garbage. My armor was soon decorated with splashes and dripping lines of black, thick blood, surrounding me with the heavy smell of gas and motor oil...  
  
"NO!" Bass screamed. "TREBLE! YOU... you BASTARD!"  
  
I shook my saber to rid it of excess bits of debris as to not mar its perfect color, then turned with a yawn back to the black robot. "What's the big deal?" I asked him with a shrug and a leer. "He was worthless anyway... you can make a better one than that. O wait... you're not going to live to see another! I forgot!" I slapped my forehead, grin ever widening to show off my white teeth. "Silly me... heh heh heh..."  
  
Bass got to his feet, activating his violet saber and backing away from me in pure terror. His eyes were as wide and white as the half moon shining above us from behind dark clouds... heh... seems even IT was afraid of me... how suitable.  
  
"You're a monster!" he shouted, even the stripes on his cheeks betraying his strong fear. "An abomination!"  
  
"Oooh... nice big words, Bass. I'm impressed you're so SMART... but enough of this!" I raised my plasma sword high into the air, and watched gleefully as my opponent stepped back again. "Fight me!"  
  
And then, for the first time I'd ever seen... he hesitated. The mighty Black Bastard Bass was hesitating! I roared with laughter, then suddenly charged! My saber was blazing... I could taste the fear... I could see the carnage around me...  
  
He blocked. Good... my dead run was halted by a desperate parry by the violet saber, exposing Bass's midsection. Without further ado I under-handed-slashed beneath the other's weapon, stopping dead just as I cut through the armor.  
  
"This is no fun!" I whined. "Come on, Bass! Where's your sense of blood and battle? Where's the cockiness that let you beat me before? Or are you too scared to fight me again?"  
  
"Damn you..." he whispered. "I'll destroy you!"  
  
"Just try me, rookie!" I taunted, craving for a real fight for once... He suddenly let loose a fierce battle cry that made my circuits freeze for a second... finally... a CHALLENGE!!  
  
"AAHHH!" I added my own scream to his, slicing the air with my sword as I did so. Slowly they yells died down, until Bass's gaze locked with my own... even my grin had faded as I saw the lust for revenge in his eyes... heh... but the last laugh would be mine! Revenge! For Rock...  
  
A few moments just flew by, for suddenly the two of us were fighting vigorously for our very lives... and I was enjoying every minute of it!! Slash... A swipe... hell he almost took my head off! It was almost like he were infected by this virus too... no matter... This was fun!  
  
Our sabers clashed again and again, multicolored sparks flying out in every direction each time as white steam emanated like white fire from the blades. Bass's face was a mask of furious concentration, while mine... let's just say I looked like a kid who's just found an enormous mountain of chocolate. He doubled his efforts now, cutting and slashing at me in every form imaginable... once or twice he could have taken off my arm... but of course I was ready for it.  
  
I went for his free arm, but the resounding shudder I felt told me before I saw that it had been parried; then I went for the midsection... the sword-arm... then at his knees... all thwarted in quick succession. Finally I executed a double-feint at his blade, throwing it out of his hands. He dived for the weapon smoothly, but for an instant his back was exposed... and so of course I had to take a 'stab' at it... heh...  
  
My teal plasma sword cleanly cut into the circuitry of the spinal joints... causing the black robot's blood to spill at last... and me to attack with full power at his sudden weakness, and a laugh easily left my lips to fill the air with what I felt... evil.  
  
His screams continued as I aimed blows at his legs, his arms... until finally I decided to hold back and see what he would do. Broken and bloody he struggled to his feet, dark crimson gaze locking with my own emerald one.  
  
"Through already, Bassie?" I pouted. "I'm just getting warmed up!"  
  
He didn't respond as he tried valiantly to keep from falling down in a crumpled heap of metal and pseudo-flesh, not even bothering to pick up his saber that had been knocked a few feet away. He only stood there, staring at me with eyes filled with rage and unbroken pride.  
  
"You'll never... conquer me..." he said at last, a trickle of blood making its way down one side of his lip. "Even if... I die... I'll die knowing... I fought fair. Besides... it's still... too late... for your friends... Wily's on his way... right now... to destroy them."  
  
I glared at him at first in disbelief, then laughed. "Whatever, you liar."  
  
"Didn't you... notice that he left?" he grinned, but the leer faded as he began to convulse in agony. "He'll... be back..."  
  
"What the hell?!" I roared. Then he began to laugh... long, choked laughs that were followed each time by a spray of black blood from his lips. I held my saber in both hands so tightly that my knuckles began to spasm in protest... like I cared... I moved the blade to a downwards position as I stood over the fallen black robot, and with a snarl of annoyance and anger... plunged the blade downwards...  
  
...until I had driven straight through him. He let out a final, twisted screech, then fell limp. His eyes tried to focus on me again, but the faded to black as he took his final breath. His chest rose once, but quickly collapsed... and did not rise again.  
  
"Farewell," I said without emotion... for I felt none. I turned from the grotesque corpse quickly, making my way back to the hover bike, which lay forgotten among the scattered debris and wreckage of Wily's useless robots.  
  
I sat in the seat silently while activating the tracking device, looking for signs of Wily's flying craft. I spotted a faint octane signature near the hangars... he hadn't left yet. That fool Bass... didn't even realize how slow the old man was. No matter... I had to kill him now, before it was too late...  
  
...too late to save the others. Sierra... Blues... Doctor Light...  
  
"AAHHH!" I screamed as the massive headache pounded at me again... and I almost lost consciousness when it finally faded. It was then... only then... that I realized the true extent and nature of my recent actions.  
  
"I just... I just mutilated... dozens... of robots... I killed... a brother..."  
  
  
I was sick... I felt like I could vomit... but robots couldn't vomit... so I was stuck with that awful, disgusting feeling... the knowledge that one had killed in cold blood...  
  
I completely forgot about Wily... I decided in a nanosecond that he was of no threat without his robot goons, and headed at full speed back to the lab.  
***  
  
  
Author's Notes: You were warned... and now Zero has a life on his conscience... Please review, I'd like opinions. ~Sierra Omega~  



	21. Brother to Brother... Yours in Life and ...

Chapter Twenty One: Brother to Brother... Yours in Life and Death  
  
Author's Notes: This chapter is a KLEENEX ALERT! By the way, the title is not my own creation... I am borrowing it from the movie First Knight. This is a long chapter... and thanks to Chaos no Mazoku who helped me write much of it! You rock, girl! So grab your box of tissues and read on... beginning from Blues's POV...  
  
  
I was waiting for him when he returned... and what a sight he made! What the hell had he gotten himself into...  
  
"ZERO!" I called out as he approached at top speed. "You said you'd wait! And NOW look at you, dirt bag!"  
  
He revved the engine just before entering the hangar, then braked so hard I had to cover my ears from the high-pitched squeal of the overheated braking system... then a low thud sounded as the bike hit the ground... with its batteries dead no doubt... idiot...  
  
"Quit being a damn showoff, Zero..." I muttered as he walked past me.  
  
"Shut up, Blues..." he said, low and dangerous. "You don't want to mess with me right now."  
  
I had to laugh. "The hell I don't... I mess with you all the time... but I believe last time you got touchy about your girlfriend."  
  
"Shut UP..." he growled.  
  
"No, I won't! You need someone to bust that oversized ego of yours! Damned if anyone else has the nerve to, you stupid hotheaded..."  
  
SMACK... I went flying into the next room, hitting my head on the wall.  
  
"You... low-life..." was all I could say against the intense pounding I was feeling in my head.  
  
He strode towards me, and it was then that I truly saw the blood and bits of metal clinging to his armor, dyeing it all a strange striped brown and black color...  
  
"What happened to you!?" I exclaimed in disbelief.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it..."  
  
I didn't hear him. "Hell... it looks like you went through a whole army and then some! You were just gonna go and get Bass's schematics... did you decide to lose your head and go kill somethin' while you were at it? Huh?"  
  
"I SAID," he shouted, suddenly holding me up by my neck, "THAT I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT."  
  
Was I gonna back off? Hell no. I knew I would get the answers if I pressed the right buttons... and it looks like the right codes were being sequenced through his thickheaded, titanium, pretty-boy skull.  
  
"You lost it, didn't you Red?" I asked quietly, defying his furious gaze with one of my own cold, lifeless ones. "The virus took over again, didn't it... and you killed Bass. You slaughtered him, you monster... not even he deserves that kind of death..."  
  
"SHUT UP!!!" he dropped me, drawing his saber. Then suddenly his voice dropped to a calm tone... and all features of emotion except for an expression of amusement faded from his face. "I wouldn't risk getting me angry right about now... but this time you've gone too far, PROTOMAN..."  
  
That name... the name I had that defined me as a ruthless killer... that which I no longer was. But instead of betraying that hatred of my old self I sneered back at the red robot. "You wouldn't dare..."  
  
"Oh really?" he asked absently. "And why not?"  
  
"Because Sierra will hate you for hurting me," I responded deadpan, remembering that the same thing was what had set him off before.  
  
"I see. What if I just walk away?"  
  
"Then you'd be a coward. And it would be SO BAD for your image..." I baited. "Did the virus make you a half-witted chicken."  
  
He considered me for a moment. "No, coward wouldn't be the precise word. Precocious, hesitant perhaps... but not 'coward.' I wouldn't be taunting me if I were you, Blues; it might be bad for your health."  
  
To say the least I was perplexed by this calm exterior... and I was determined to get some answers from him whether he was playing or not. So I grinned. "Sure, whatever you say... Red Demon."  
  
He laughed, much to my surprise. I had expected him to explode at the name, but instead his gave me a sneer of his own. "Why, thank you. It seems suitable."  
  
"Why did you come back?" I suddenly blurted out. "To finish us all off?" I raised my new plasma cannon, assuring myself that it was adequate to protect myself, as well as the two humans, from him. Something was odd... I couldn't put my finger on it, but something told me that the virus was slowly taking over him... and he was a force to be reckoned with... maybe confronting him like this wasn't such a good idea...  
  
"Oh, so you want to shoot me now, do you Blues?" Damn, now HE was taunting ME... talk about turning the tables... to hell with him...  
  
"Shoot me if you will," he continued, switching off his blue-green blade. "I am not defending... we shall see who the coward TRULY is, now won't we..."  
  
"Hah," I shot back. My muscles were tense, ready to jump into action... but I couldn't stay like that forever... "Like I would stoop to that level. You have to give me more credit than that, empty-headed fool."  
  
He fluidly leaped backward, and I heard a light hum as his saber was reactivated. It was the only thing visible in the shadows now enveloping him... not even the crimson armor could be seen in that darkness. I could still hear his laughter, though muffled from the distance now between us.  
  
"Empty, you say... should I be honored?"  
  
"If you wish. I was referring to your brain circuits, or rather, lack thereof."  
  
"I see." Damn, I could taste the amusement in his voice... it was so unnerving. "Well, if my head is empty, all the better for me... since you don't know where my control chip is."  
  
I blinked. What did he mean by that? I had no time to think, however, as he rushed at me and I suddenly had an arm gripped around my neck. I sputtered, barely able to breathe let alone speak.  
  
"Heh..." I managed to choke out. "A blast... to your face... is all I need... to send you crying, Pretty Boy..." I chuckled as I powered up my cannon...  
  
"That wouldn't be a wise choice, my friend," he whispered in my ear as he tightened his hold on me. Growling in fury I flipped him over, hearing a loud clank of titanium armor against the steel floors. Well, didn't the tiling get a nice dent... but without stopping to admire my handiwork I kicked Zero's saber away with all my might from his hand. He grunted in pain as his knuckles began bleeding from the force of my blow, and I laughed.  
  
Bad choice on my part. I was caught up enough in my small victory that I didn't see his leg jut out to catch my knees... I fell forward onto the tiling, just barely seeing the Red Demon roll for his saber and execute a straight-up leap... where he stopped in midair.  
  
"Laugh at that, miserable wretch," I heard him spit in disgust from his new perch. Oh... that robot was really wanting a fight, wasn't he? I disregarded his little insult to fire a shot at him, aimed right at his face. He dodged with a cocky grin, but his eyes widened as the energy went straight at the target I had truly intended... the long, blond ponytail. A large part of it was hit, blackened, and began to smoke.  
  
I couldn't help it. From my spot of the floor I began to laugh, rolling around and clutching my sides. "LOOKY LOOKY!!!" I yelled in between bouts of laughter. "RED'S HAIR... IS SIZZLING!!!"  
  
He looked down at the blackened area, frowning. "I see, or rather... I smell," he amended with a look of disgust. "You REALLY didn't want to do that."  
  
"Hey, you had the chance to dodge, you know!" A tear or two of amusement had welled, and I wiped them away roughly with a stupid grin plastered onto my face.  
  
"Do you have any idea of what you are getting yourself into?" he asked me in a soft but very dangerous voice.  
  
"Ooh... I'm so SCARED!" I mocked, raising my hands up as if in defeat. "Damn, I am TERRIFIED of the tall berserker!"  
  
"Humph. You are a fool, Blues. Why would you want to defeat me so badly?"  
  
All mockery, amusement and just plain poking fun faded. He finally asked... and now I could spell it out to him. "It's your fault... that I was almost killed by Bass. It's YOUR fault that Sierra is hurt now... and it's YOUR FAULT..." I paused, taking a breath so that I could scream the last accusation... "YOUR FAULT THAT ROCK IS DEAD, DAMMIT!"  
  
Silence. He looked at me again with half-lidded eyes; almost sleepy he looked... but I knew better than to think like that. Zero himself was not one to anger... Zero with a virus created by Wily... gods... there was no telling.  
  
"Are you finished?" he demanded of me calmly. "Because if you choose to carry on like this I'll be forced to do something neither of us will like."  
  
"Oh, yeah?" I said, my body beginning to shudder in anger as I moved to a defensive position. Don't ask me why... but something told me to expect anything... "Well maybe its payback time... time for me to exact my revenge for Rock's death! It was your doing that kept me from knowing my own brother! YOU!"  
  
"On the guard, are we?" he quipped as he noted my change of stance.  
  
"What's it to you?" I snapped. "My only problem is that I have to hold back... I can't mess you up too bad... because at least I still have respect for Sierra!"  
  
"What's it to me?" I heard him muse quietly. Laughter soon followed... chilling enough to make me shudder involuntarily... damn him.  
  
"What's it to me?" he repeated. "Simply, my dear Blues... absolutely nothing."  
  
"I figured as much," I growled in response. How could he just hang there in midair (and hell if I knew how he was doing that!) and say all of this? Did he really have no care at all for anything but himself.  
  
"You never did care about anything, did you Zero?" I asked of him, tensing. "Not even her!"  
  
At last I received a response... he narrowed his eyes to the smallest of slits as he raised his sword again, but did not yet activate it. His emerald eyes seemed to glow with inner light, but I dared not let my fear of him show.  
  
"I think it would be best to leave Sierra out of this, 'Protoman'."  
  
"Really now? And why not? Then I won't mention that ugly red mark on your face... the result of her SLAP... it serves you right, you stuck up piece of junkyard scrap!"  
  
"I respect her... for doing what she felt was necessary..." the red 'bot stated, barely loud enough for me to hear. Then his gaze met mine again, and I saw a strange hunger in them that was even more frightening than his laugh had been. "But come now... had I wished to talk, I would have gone to a coffee shop."  
  
"Hey, it takes two to tango, Red," I joked, the leer pulling at my lips again. "... and two to argue. It's your fault as much as mine."  
  
He laughed again... how could the sound become even more sinister?! I felt the cold sweat against my scalp, matting my reddish-brown hair to it. I ran a hand through the locks absently, wishing for my helmet. My steel green-grey eyes were widening slightly at Zero's enigmatic behavior... I had no idea what would come next.  
  
"'Two to tango', is it? My, Blues, your naivete amazes me! Either that, or you have a sensational talent for ignoring the obvious..."  
  
"Ooh... I'm hurt," I drawled sarcastically. "Think what you want, but I am not as naïve as you present YOURSELF to be..."  
  
"Oh, but the problem is, Blues..." he countered without missing a beat, "I'm not sure of what to think. Do I even bother to worry about Sierra? I mean, obviously, I must have some human feeling for her...but will it ever matter, Blues? After all, we are only robots...and she is a human... Think on that for a moment."  
  
Okay, this was getting VERY confusing for me... so what DID he think about her? Hence I voiced my inquiry. "So you deny loving her?"   
  
"Nothing can deny love, but something can quite easily deny life."  
  
I did not hear this almost silent statement at first, for I was immersed in my own musings of fury. "I don't believe this... and to think I had supported the two of you being together!" Then his words sank in. "Life? How would you know anything about life, Zero? Are we talking about your dreamworld of a life or reality? You think you've experienced true life?"  
  
"Do you believe that YOU have?" he shot back impatiently.  
  
"Yeah, I DO." He had to get me going... "You live in a bubble, coddled and surrounded by those who care! You don't understand how horrible it really is for those like us... you can't possibly comprehend the way we are shunned by humans... and do you know why??  
  
"It's because if this place. Doctor Light and Sierra accept you... for who you are; not because you're a robot. And you know what, Zero? They're not gonna live forever... and THEN you'll see what life really is."  
  
His face goes blank. "No Blues... they don't accept me... us. They see me as a robot... a humanoid one like Rock once was... but nothing more." He raised a fist to look at it, clenched it tightly. "One wrong move... and I could hurt her... or you, even..."  
  
"Heh..." I muttered loudly. "'Bout time you figured that one out, Red... and look what trouble and pain you have already caused! Why didn't you go after her... when she went chasing me? Why, dammit?"  
  
I saw now that he was struggling with himself... Something was happening now... I could see it.  
  
"Do you think it would have been different," he began, "Had I been the one to bring her back? Think about it... And maybe then it'll get into your thick head..."  
  
"Look... all I know is how I feel about her, all right?" What the... was I actually going to admit this? To HIM? I must have been losing my mind... but it was too late; there was no turning back now. "She freed me... showed me a life I never could have dreamed of having."  
  
He let out a short sigh... was that pain I saw in his eyes now? His helmet shielded most of his facial reactions from me... but still I could see that something was happening... though I had yet to discover what that was...  
  
"Freedom... is something that I can never have, Blues."  
  
"Don't you get it? You have freedom now! You always had it!"  
  
"Don't I get it..." his eyes closed, as if to shut the world out. He turned his head slightly away from me, blond ponytail flowing behind him.  
  
"Yeah, that's what I want to know," I pressed, my frustration growing with every passing moment. I clenched my fists within their red gloves, my muscles tensing from under my grey armor. "Any other robot is a slave to humanity... as I was to Wily. We are the only ones who are free! And I cherish that... greatly..."  
  
He laughed again, startling me. "I AM STILL A SLAVE TO THAT BASTARD WILY!" he yelled at me. "You SAW what Bass did to me! I hurt you... and dammit I THOUGHT IT WAS FUN! I... I... WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME???"  
  
"It WASN"T YOUR FAULT!" I screamed back, happy to let out my tension. "I don't give a damn about it! It was the virus! But we can fix that! The Doc can--"  
  
But Zero had jumped again, now into the rafters of the room, and there is a soft clunk as his boots hit the catwalks.  
  
"You say that now..." I barely registered his voice from his far-away position... "But what will you say when I finally let it all go? Will you forgive so easily..."  
  
What was all this? What nonsense crud was he spouting now? "It doesn't matter if I forgive you or not!" I shouted.  
  
The sound of his laughter came again, this time not cold and blood freezing... but a sad, mournful one. "Go on and hate me... I know you already do."  
  
Hate? Did I hate him? I thought on that a moment... no. I didn't... the only one I was truly capable of hating was Dr. Wily.  
  
"Perhaps," I said at last. "But it's for Sierra's sake that I give you a chance. Zero, all that really matters is how you handle your own suffering..."  
  
I thought I heard a snort. "How I handle it... hah. Oh, and don't worry... this isn't for you."  
  
Unsure of his meaning I power up my cannon, ready to let loose a powerful shot of plasma at him. I hear him fire, and suddenly a large piece of the ceiling above came hurtling down at me. I release the powered plasma, shattering the huge metal shard to pieces... but some are still large enough to cut into me, the momentum of their fall making the slice through my armor easy.  
  
"Dammit..." I curse.  
  
"Like I said, wasn't for you," he called down. He jumped through the hole in the roof fluidly, catlike. "Do you feel any better now?"  
  
"You think you're all that!" I shouted, a bit on edge because of the close call. "You're a fool, Zero! I don't care what happens to me... but as long as you're controlled by that virus, so help me I will protect Sierra from you!"  
  
"So you say... I'll be going now... follow if you choose, Blues, but it would be best to leave well enough alone... you can't stop me from what I plan to do."  
  
I had to say I was relieved to hear this... I'd had enough of all this. "Fine then! Go already! But if you ever come back, I'll be waiting... and I will kill you." The cruelty on my tongue grew... "... and when you return, Sierra will watch me dispose of you, by my side."  
  
"How do you know that I'll return? How do you know that I will be able to?" he paused, and thought I couldn't see him I know he felt the sting of my biting words... I hadn't meant to be so thoughtless...  
  
"She'd be glad to see me die," he concluded. "I know it."  
  
Okay, he was getting plain ridiculous now. "You'd kill HER just by letting her see you like this, Zero!" I screamed, my emotions taking control of me, "But you don't care, DO YOU?"  
  
For the longest time he didn't respond, and as I backed into a place where I could better see him I saw him mutter countless things under his breath. He was curling himself into a ball, and the blue sparks I knew to associate with the virus began to glimmer to life as they coursed up and down his armored form.  
  
"You... should leave now, Blues..." he was saying softly. "...while you still can..."  
  
What was I to say to that? The Red Demon actually appeared to be AFRAID! Of what... I couldn't be sure. Himself, perhaps? Maybe... it would make sense. But I couldn't just leave him there... it was easy to see that the virus was tightening its hold around him, and I had to get him help, fast.  
  
"Hey, no way," I responded at last. "I can still help you."  
  
"Help me? Hah like you would--"  
  
"Shut up and listen, dammit!" I snapped. I had to calm him down, keep him in a stable state of mind as long as I possibly could...  
  
"Fine," he murmured, and I sighed in relief. I thought at first he would attack or run off... either option was just as bad as the other.   
  
"Look..." I began. "I can still get you to Doctor Light before it completely takes control... there's time to use what free will you have left now."  
  
"...no... my will doesn't last against this thing... any resistance feeds it... even now I begin to fade. I may give in willingly and be deactivated until a cure is found... but by then it may be too late. There's so much imbalance Blues... and I must be the one to remedy it."  
  
"Turn yourself off, Zero! I know that you still can... do it for her... because I know you wouldn't do it for me..." I smirked, and I sensed that he was amused as well. Good... he still had some control left.  
  
Then I heard a quiet sigh. "Blues... for you... Rock... Sierra...it doesn't matter who... it's for everyone that I do this." He looked down at me... I felt those pure green eyes and felt the turmoil within them. "Blues... please tell her not to cry... she needs you now."  
  
"What are you..." Then it dawned on me. "Oh my-- ZERO! You can't be serious! Don't do this!!!"  
  
He didn't seem to hear me as he stepped out of my view... the increasing intensity of blue sparks the only thing I could see above me now.  
  
"Treat her well, Blues... okay? Promise me that."  
  
"ZERO!" I screamed. But he gave me no response. "DON'T DO THIS! YOU'LL KILL US ALL IF YOU LEAVE! THE VIRUS... GODDAMN IT! DON'T LEAVE! You're..."  
  
Then it hit me... as much as I'd cared for Rock as a brother... I had been feeling the same way with Zero... the rivalries, the fights... everything. "You're the only friend I had..."  
  
"I won't..."  
  
My head snapped back up, my eyes straining for any trace of him on the roof.  
  
"...can't you see, Blues?" he insisted. "I can't risk infecting you... a friend... hah... some friend I ever made..."  
  
"What do you mean?!"  
  
"I killed Rock... nearly destroyed you... who almost killed the one..." he choked, "the one we both love? I can't stay... no one needs me here... not even I need me."  
  
"Yes we do!" I yelled, not caring how much emotion I was now betraying to him. I knew what he wanted to do... and hell if I was gonna let him! I couldn't let him leave... not like this, when everyone needed him. "Don't you see... you will kill her... kill Sierra... when she knows!  
  
"I don't care if I get infected! Doctor Light is even now racing to find a cure for it! Have faith in him!"  
  
"I don't want to hurt anyone else, Blues..." I could barely hear him now... he was losing it as I heard his voice scratching... "I have to do this... can't you understand that?"  
  
"NO I DON'T! YOU'RE BEING STUPID!"  
  
"No... stupid would be denial. If I accept my fate... she'll understand..."  
  
"She won't! I know that... and you should too! Sierra could never love me... when it's you that she wants to be with! You don't GET IT!"  
  
"Give it time..." he assured. "She doesn't know what she wants right now... and what's there to get..." he paused, "Here... keep this. I won't be... needing it anymore... please use it well..."  
  
A flash of teal light, and the saber I knew so well fell through the hole above me, right at my feet. Why was he... unless...  
  
"I don't want it, dammit!" I said defiantly. "It's yours! Has that virus wiped out your memories?!"  
  
"No longer mine, Blues..." he sighed again. "I give it to you. My memories... they can't help me now... only to keep me going on this path... they'll save whatever soul I have... whatever kind of soul a robot CAN have... you understand..."  
  
"Get your sorry ass back down here, Zero!" There was no way I was going to listen to any more... I could feel the hot tears collecting in my eyes... "I'm taking you back to Doctor Light! I won't listen to any more of this crap!"  
  
"Just try to get me, Blues," he taunted, the sound of his voice growing ever weaker. "Did you actually think... I'd just... give up? I'd never do that to you guys... I'll leave the favor... heh... to you..."  
  
"What? I don't--"  
  
"Dammit, just get up here already!" he shouted, startling me. I fall silent, nodding even though he couldn't see it. Crouching down, I braced myself while reaching for the fallen sword, then leaped!... into the rafters. The hole was right above me, and I felt the heavy humidity of the outside air as I climbed out into it.  
  
"I'm here," I announced, still looking for him in the shadows.  
  
"I... I know..."  
  
At last I saw the source of his voice... he was half-sitting, half- laying on the roof, staring out into the stars that had begun to cloud over in an approaching storm. For a moment I look with him. Was it all an omen? Finally he turned in grim regard to my arrival, pulling his knees close to his chest as he closed his eyes in an attempt to hide from that which was ailing him...   
  
"Do it now..." he murmured. "Please... get it over with... she... she'll thank you for it... I'll make sure of that..."  
  
He couldn't be serious! He was delusional! How the HELL did he get the nerve to ask me... to...  
  
"I can't!" I cried out, clutching the saber in one hand. "You can't make me..."  
  
"How... ironic..." he was laughing now... a leer crossing his pained features. His crimson helmet was slightly at an angle, his blond hair moving to disarray in the growing winds. "Didn't you want to... do away with me before? I told you... that I had reserved the favor... for you... and now you refuse it..."  
  
"STOP THIS!" I shouted. The tears were falling freely now... twin rivulets down a face that had never known this kind of emotion before... for I had been a heartless skeleton of bolts and hardware... "Please Zero... you're being stupid again! I don't have... I don't have any reason to do this! And don't you DARE think of giving me one!"  
  
He met my gaze as I deactivated the teal blade, and I saw the anger at me for doing so. But I refused... I couldn't bring myself to do it.  
  
"Don't do this to me..." I pleaded. "I never want to hurt anyone again... I don't care if I wanted to kill you before... that was then... and I was wrong then! Do you hear me?! Wrong!!! Because I know now... that even at that time... deep within the coldest region of my heart I always knew... that you were my brother... just as much as Rock ever was."  
  
He seemed surprised... or so it seemed from his sharp intake of breath and widening eyes. "Your... brother?" But then it looked like something within him snapped, and a dark look pulled at his face... the leer was returning. "Brother," he repeated, in mock amusement. "How very... touching... heh heh..."  
  
My eyes narrowed. No... not now... Damn Wily and his virus... "Zero..." I warned. "Hold on... you can beat this! You taught me a new kind of strength, Zero... one I'd never known before I'd met you and Rock... so don't give up! Show me that strength... don't taint Rock's memory like this! He'd want you to beat this thing... the same as I do!"  
  
"Strong?" he abruptly stopped laughing to give me a look so terribly evil I froze in place... I couldn't even breathe... "You want to see me... strong?"  
  
His snarl was petrifying... "Zero... don't do this... just hold on... please, brother!"  
  
"'Don't do it, Zero,'" he taunted while laughing again... I shuddered... "'Brother'... you didn't listen to me before... I warned you to end it... I WARNED YOU! Must I end it all... myself?" Now his voice broke as he rose to his feet, struggling to step towards me... I stood my ground, growling low in my throat while desperately trying to think of a way to keep him sane...  
  
"Don't do it, brother... think of Sierra... you're what kept us all hoping... that we'd beat Wily! I know some part of you is still there... fighting that virus! Snap out of it, Zero!"  
  
He tossed his head back and cackled at the swift-approaching clouds... I could hear the thunder rolling in the distance as an echo to the horrid laughter...  
  
"I'm not like you!" he announced coldly, glaring. "I already said this... they need YOU... but I'm not like you... I'm very different, and people are afraid of change, Blues. Do you want them to be scared?"  
  
At that comment I finally found my wits, as well as my voice. "I should be the one asking YOU that... look at yourself, Zero! At what you're thinking!"  
  
"I told you to end this!" he repeated, clenching his fists and attempting to look away. "And you DIDN'T! Why can't you!?"  
  
"Because I know you better than that! We're the same... created from the same plans and parts... we're brothers through and through!"  
  
"Gods, Blues... this isn't change... this is EVIL..." I heard the real Red Demon saying... now he was having trouble standing on both feet... that's it... fight it...  
  
"I know it is... but Wily..."  
  
"THEN END IT!" he screeched. "KILLING WILY WON'T HELP ME NOW!"  
  
"It's not me that has control of this! YOU do! End it yourself! Come back with me to Doctor Light..."  
  
Suddenly he slumped, falling back onto the rooftop limply. "...fine..." Turning, he fixed his gaze on me again, and instantly was flying through the air. He knocked me over, grabbing his saber as he went. I got up quickly, looking around for him... a few feet away, clutching his weapon as if it were the only thing that kept him alive. He turned the blade on... grinning again...  
  
"I love this sound... the complacent hum... it's almost soothing and serene at a time such as this..." he glanced over at me, as if he were just noticing my presence. "Oh... I'm sorry... did I scare you, Blues...?"  
  
I clenched my fists at my sides in realization that every moment he was slipping further away from himself. "You have never scared me," I retorted, "...and you never will..."  
  
"... it's just like I said..." he continued as if he hadn't heard me. "You don't need me... and neither does anyone else..."  
  
"What are you--"  
  
I halted mid-sentence... for his gaze had raised to meet mine... and I saw the anger... the rage... the pain... the hurt... Then there was a glint of silver, and my eyes widened as they dropped to the Z-Saber... now pointed at Zero's midsection...  
  
  
The hilt was pressed firmly against his stomach. My gaze flew to his emerald one, now settling to a calm state... He smiled... not the evil leer he had worn just a moment ago... but one of reassurance... then his finger flicked against the silver handle...   
...then a ear-shattering shriek as the teal blade shot on through armor... flesh and bone...   
  
  
"NOOOO!!!" I screamed, falling forward in my cursed attempts to run to him... "ZERO!"  
  
Blood was pouring from his wound... but he had never screamed... never let out a cry of the agony I saw plainly in his ever-expressive eyes... my own vision had long clouded over... now all I could see was a misty red form that was now my dying brother... NO! It couldn't end like this! I DIDN'T WANT TO LOSE ANOTHER BROTHER, DAMMIT!  
  
I sobbed nonstop now... as my hands hurried to try and stanch the bleeding... he opened his eyes again...  
  
"Blues..."  
  
I didn't listen... I had to help him... I had to save him!!!!  
  
"Blues..." he repeated... "I'm... sorry... but she needed this... you needed this..."  
  
His blood wouldn't stop flowing... now the fluid was seeping onto the roof... staining it... I was mad with desperation.... "No no no... I won't let you die! I WON'T! DOCTOR LIGHT! DOCTOR LIGHT!" I said over and over again... though my logical mind told me that he couldn't hear me up here... I didn't care... he was drifting away... my only other brother... he was sacrificing himself... just as Rock had done... my two brave little brothers... and I was alone... the coward that I was...  
  
He laughed at me, and to my horror flecks of blood erupted from his mouth as his choked words did... "He can't... help me now, Blues... I took care... of that... my control chip... I said it wasn't in my helmet..."  
  
My movements stopped as the truth sank in... "YOU IDIOT!" I screamed at his stilling form. The rivulets cascade from my face and onto his marred armor already stained with the lifeblood of other robots that he'd killed... but none of that mattered now...  
  
"...the chip's long gone... dissolved..." he laughed again. "I'm sorry... brother..."  
  
"Tell me how to fix it!" I pleaded, shaking him despite his fatal wound. "TELL ME! You can't die! I won't let you!"  
  
"There's nothing you can do, bro... I'm sorry..."  
  
"You call me that now..." I cry, covering my face despite the dripping fluids covering them... I no longer cared... for I knew I had been too late... "Why must you call me your brother now?!" I cursed him for doing this to me... WHY!? I asked any deity that robots had... why must I be tortured so? Why must all that I care for suffer?  
  
"Because in death... all are brothers..." Zero answered me grimly. "I've not much more... time left Blues... AHHHHH!" Small flickers, then large jolts of electricity jump over his form... and into the wound...  
  
"HANG ON ZERO!" I screamed again... hopelessly pleading against the inevitable... "PLEASE.... Why are you killing me... WHY? Am I destined... am I fated to be alone forever?! And to watch everyone I love be killed off before my eyes?! Answer me, ZERO!"  
  
With one hand he reached to remove his helmet, carelessly allowing his long blond hair free to dip in his spilled blood... "Blues... deactivation... can be reversed... Light is talented... enough to rebuild me... you asked me to have... faith in him... Don't you see?"  
  
"But your body will be an empty shell with no soul!" I argued.  
  
"Give it time..."  
  
"But it won't be you! IT WON'T!"  
  
Just then lightning cracked above us... highlighting the entire area in stark black and white... Thunder shook the lab as an earthquake would, and on cue the rains began... cold, gray rain that came in heavy droplets that pricked my skin like thousands of needles driving towards my already broken heart...  
  
"Blues..." he murmured above the fall of water... he reached behind his neck, wincing as he removed two small chips from an access port... "...take these...they're my memory chips..."  
  
"No..." I put my hands up, afraid to touch the fragile circuits. "I can't... you'll die..."  
  
"It's irrelevant...to those such as ourselves... we can be rebuilt... reprogrammed... Dr. Light can reverse it all..."  
  
"I don't care anymore! If you do this... I'll... I'll kill myself! I'll self-destruct and take the chips with me! Don't think I won't do it, Zero! Do you even care about that, dammit?! DO YOU?"  
  
"Of course... I care... Blues... but...had I not done this... who could have stopped me... while I was... controlled... by the virus? You? Sierra? Bass? Don't go and destroy yourself, brother... Sierra would... fall apart... she'd die... and humans can't ever come back... once they're gone... you must know that..."  
  
"BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER! She won't care about me... she never has... it's only been you... all that she thought about..."  
  
"Blues... please listen..."  
  
"...all she ever cared about..."  
  
"BLUES."  
  
I shut up then... but my emotions couldn't stop... would the tears ever stop? No... never...  
  
"Listen to me, Blues... she'll read the files... on the chips... everything's there... memory... personality... I was sure to backup everything..."  
  
"But..." I protested weakly. "You can't back-up love. That's something only you can have... it won't be the same... I know, and she'll know that!"  
  
"...Tell her, Blues... tell her I did it for Rock... and she'll do it..."  
  
"How DAREYOU!" I exclaimed, and he jumped from the sudden volume of my voice. My body began shuddering, not just from the freezing rain but from the fury now filling my heart. "HOW CAN YOU MENITION ROCK NOW! He died a HERO! How can you dishonor him like this?!"  
  
"Yes... he died a hero... as he should have... while I am a coward..."  
  
"YES!" I agreed wholeheartedly! "YOU ARE A COWARD!" I looked at him... and was shocked at how old he looked now... the lines of pain engraved upon youthful features were not meant for him to have... how could he have done this to himself? And despite it all, he smiled blankly.  
  
"Yes... I wanted that... just don't forget me... please, brother..." his eyes dim to a dull black... but I could barely see for he had closed them to the smallest slits... "Be sure to tell her... that I died a coward... you tried to stop me... don't you see? You're the hero... Blues... you got what you finally wanted..."  
  
"NO!" I shouted. "I never wanted this! I wanted a brother... someone to keep me from being alone! I don't want Sierra... she's yours... and always will be!"  
  
"I..."  
  
"ZERO!"  
  
"Please... tell... her...Blues..."  
  
"ZERO!!!!"  
  
"I...I'll miss you... both..."  
  
"DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE IN THIS WORLD! ZERO! DON'T DIE! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!"  
  
But it was too late... with a final smile of reassuring farewell... his eyes closed forever... and his form fell limp beneath the rain and thunder... even his blood stopped flowing... I cradled his body close to my own, sobbing into the shell that once contained the soul of my last brother...  
  
"NOOO!!!!!!" I cry out, screaming to the heavens. "NOOOOOO!!!!!"  
  
  
Author's Note: A chapter or two more and Part One will be complete. Please don't kill me... but DO review!!!! ~Sierra Omega~  



	22. Conclusion, Part One

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Behold, the Beginning of the End... it's short, perhaps with a surprise or two in hand, but the final chapter will be much longer, I promise! Please enjoy and review, and perhaps there will be a Book Two in the near future. ~Sierra Omega~  
  
***********************************************************  
PREVIOUSLY ON CREATION AND EMOTION:  
  
"I...I'll miss you... both..."  
"DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE IN THIS WORLD! ZERO! DON'T DIE! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!"  
  
But it was too late... with a final smile of reassuring farewell... his eyes closed forever... and his form fell limp beneath the rain and thunder... even his blood stopped flowing... I cradled his body close to my own, sobbing into the shell that once contained the soul of my last brother...  
  
"NOOO!!!!!!" I cried out, screaming to the heavens. "NOOOOOO!!!!!"  
***********************************************************  
AND NOW FOR CONCLUSION, PART ONE  
  
  
He was gone. My only remaining family... carried away with the storms by an evil scientist. I was alone now, ever destined to wander the world companionless, loveless. I supposed darkly that it was my destiny to be so; that I was never to have someone to care for lest they be torn from me and have my heart... break once more.  
  
The first time it happened was my activation. I knew from the beginning that it was not Wily that I was to serve, yet my choice was stolen from me. Then I was made to destroy things... people... anything that the scientist grew weary or angry with. I hated to do it... but still I had no say, no choice; no way to stop it all. Then... it was Rock whom I lost next... the brave little brother that never thought of himself... only of those that he loved... he even saved me, despite the fact I was completely undeserving of his great compassion. Now it was Zero whose path ended before my eyes... those fiery green eyes would never open again... would never gaze at Sierra lovingly again, and would never narrow in no hesitation to protect those he cared for as Rock had done.  
  
They both died as heroes, no matter how much I hid it from myself. I was the true coward here, the one who was too weak to shield the loved ones from harm; the one too blinded to stand up for myself and fight. I could have stopped him... I know I could have... but what good was it now? None... none at all. I was disgusted with myself to the depths of my pitiful soul... no, I was not even worth wasting the pity on. I wasn't worth a look someone on the street would give me. I was nothing.  
  
"So that's it," I said softly to the cooling body of my brother. My gaze rested upon the chips he had given me, still clutched gently in his hand in once-white gloves now soaked with blood and rain.  
  
"That's it..." I repeated, raising my face to the still-pounding rain and thundering black clouds above. "I failed. I'm nothing... and alone. What am I here for? Tell me! Or..." I trailed off, "...or is the solution to my suffering... my death? Is that it? Is my destiny to let myself die?  
  
"Then so be it..." the silver glint of Zero's fallen saber lay glinting in the gray droplets of angels' tears, just within reach from where he fell.  
  
"I am not worth this, Zero," I said to him. "But it's the only way to end it."  
  
  
Brother...  
  
  
I paused, then shook my head. I looked again at the chips, my heart breaking yet again.  
  
  
Brother...  
  
  
My glance turned to a stare. What was it about those circuits? Did they always glow like they were doing now? No... it couldn't be... I was losing my mind...  
  
  
Brother!  
  
  
"Stop it!" I cried out, still clutching the sword but all at once grasping my head. "He's dead! And now I have no choice but to pay for my crimes! I won't even be reunited with them... I don't deserve it... Rock, Zero!"  
  
  
Don't give up hope, Brother...  
  
  
I heard it again... that voice calling me... tormenting me... stop it please...  
  
  
Blues. Don't do this... you're never alone.  
  
  
Alone? Yes... I was indeed alone, and now a voice was permeating my thoughts of darkness... just go away and leave me in peace.  
  
  
You know I can't do that. Blues... they need you here. You have to deliver the chips to Sierra.  
  
  
The chips? Oh, that. I don't care anymore... I'll drop the damn things down to the lab before I kill myself.  
  
  
I won't let you, Blues.  
  
  
"And who the hell are you to tell me what to do!?" I screamed aloud. Through my tightly shut eyes a bluish glow flickered into existence, bright enough to catch my attention. I opened them...  
  
...and nearly began crying again from the sight before me. No, before one gets this idea, I am no weak fool... but even one with such a cold heart as I had would break at the sight I was seeing then.  
  
'Hello, Blues.' He stood before me... real but at the same time... not. How could it be? He laughed at my expression, but it was a clear laugh... before he had been altered...  
  
"Zero..." I whispered. "But how... you're dead..."  
  
'Don't I know it,' he joked, smile never leaving. 'But all at once I'm not. Look Blues; it's me... I told you the chips had everything. They are the keys to my reactivation... and the cure to the virus. Doctor Light can get the information directly from my memories and saved tracking of the virus in my subroutines.  
  
'But you're still skeptical,' he noted. 'I can see it clearly... Why are you testing me, brother? Don't you want me to come back?'  
  
I said nothing, but simply hung my head in shame. I looked down at his body... now a lifeless shell, then at the chips, now projecting a perfect hologram of that which he once was, minus a real physical form.  
  
'Blues... Brother... go back to them. Give her the chips, and don't try to destroy yourself.'  
  
"And why not?" I mustered at last. "I am the cause of the suffering..." As I said this a strange feeling washed over me... one I'd never known before. It was almost alien to me... surging through every circuit and causing me to lose focus. At the same time my anger rose; at me, at Wily, at Zero.  
  
"Why did you do what you did?!" I demanded. "There was another way!"  
  
'No... don't you see? I would become a living plague, a danger to everyone... and I couldn't let that happen... '  
  
"But I let you get infected!" I shouted back. "It was my fault!"  
  
'Quit kicking yourself,' he commanded, placing curiously solid hands upon my shoulders. 'Did you really think I'd just leave you here!? You're my brother, dammit!'  
  
When I gave no response, the hologram looked up at the sky with concern. 'Lightning has not been our friend as of late... we'd best get inside.'  
  
But suddenly I was paralyzed, a gasp strangled in my throat parched from sobs and shouts.  
  
'Blues!?' Zero exclaimed, reeling back as telltale blue sparks began flashing over me. 'No... DAMMIT...'  
  
I looked down at myself, searching for the source... there...  
  
"Your blood... mixed with mine... hit my wound... and got into... systems..." I mumbled, tensing up in an attempt to deny the inevitable. I had to fight it... I wouldn't give in... I WOULDN'T!!!  
  
I screamed. The pain was unbearable... "Chips! Sierra!" My choked yells came out in agony, and while my body cried out in protest I began crawling towards the hole in the ceiling...  
  
  
No... Blues... this couldn't be happening now! I had never known this would happen!  
  
'Brother! Dammit WAIT! STOP!' then something snapped in me... I had to warn him... 'Blues...' I hissed urgently.... 'Just DON'T laugh... that's what triggers the virus... gods please don't' laugh...'  
  
"Heh... heh... damn you Zero... a little bit late... wasn't it? You HAD... heh heh heh... to tell me NOW? Heh... but I still have time... I have to get the chips... heh... to Sierra... then I'll leave here..."  
  
My backed-up mind was racing as fast as the small chips would allow... not much slower than my original brain... but lacking enough to annoy me and distract me further...   
  
'If you leave...' I began, out of time. 'You'll have to take me with you! I'm not letting you go off alone!' He completely disregarded my presence, holding the fragile circuits that were left of me with them close to his body as he hurled himself through the gaping hole on the roof. I heard him hit the metal tiling with a sickening crack, and I jumped down fluidly... and looked upon his twisted form in horror. What had I DONE to him?  
  
He growled at me, reaching for my chips from where they had fallen, some feet to the left. Frantically I brushed them away into my own semi-solid fingers... though I couldn't keep up being real indefinitely...the power was running out fast...  
  
"No!" he cried, face melting into an expression of despair. "Please... I want to do it... so that you'll forgive me... and maybe..." he sobbed deeply, "... maybe she will find it in her heart to forgive me as well..."  
  
Sadness passed over my ethereal form... 'Forgiveness had already been given you, my brother... please don't torture yourself for my sake!' Then an idea came to me...   
  
'Hold on, Blues... this is gonna sting a bit...' I turned one of his arms slightly, finding the slot identical to one in my design. Swiftly I placed my chips delicately inside, and instantly began to feel my formless body grow stronger.  
  
"What are you...?" he muttered in defeat.  
  
'I told you,' I replied coldly, 'I am going with you.'  
  
  
...TO BE CONCLUDED  



	23. Conclusion, Part Two

Creation and Emotion: The Conclusion  
  
LAST TIME, ON CONCLUSION PART ONE:  
***********************************************************  
'Hold on, Blues... this is gonna sting a bit...' I turned one of his arms slightly, finding the slot identical to one in my design. Swiftly I placed my chips delicately inside, and instantly began to feel my formless body grow stronger.  
  
"What are you...?" he muttered in defeat.  
  
'I told you...' I replied coldly, 'I am going with you.'  
***********************************************************  
AND NOW... THE FINAL CHAPTER...  
  
  
"No... Zero you can't... infected again..."  
  
'Then so be it. The only way to get those out of your arm is magnetically... but it would erase everything.'  
  
"NO! I can't let it happen again! I'll... rip my arm off!" He broke down crying again, from the thought of my being re-infected or from his own pain, I couldn't tell. All I knew... was that I had to help him, and fast.  
  
'Don't... don't do that, Blues,' I pleaded at the sight of his new tears. 'I can't stand it... gods' sake...'  
  
"I can't help it..." he replied. "I'm gonna... I'm going to..."  
  
'What?'  
  
"Die..."  
  
I understood completely what he meant. 'It will feel like that at first... but its not too late. You're not going to die; I won't let you. Go back to Sierra, Blues. Let her help you.' But the only response was a growing scream of pain erupting from his throat. I saw in fear that his fall from the ceiling had opened new wounds in him... and the virus was beginning to take advantage of his weakness. It wouldn't be long now... but I had to save him!  
  
'Blues... hold still.'  
  
"Pain... no... what? Zero..." he was muttering incoherently. "Go away... Wily... kill... heh heh... no... stop it... ha ha... please... pain..."  
  
I was out of time. 'I'm sorry to have to do this, brother...' I said. 'This is gonna hurt... but I have no choice.' Closing my illusion-eyes I concentrated on the chips, spreading my programming across Blues' mainframe. I wasn't erasing his... I wouldn't do that... but it was merely a 'blanket' to slow down the virus' work.  
  
My lids opened, and I looked through my brother's silvery-green eyes onto bloodstained red gloves. I turned my gaze upwards, imagining what I must have looked like in my brother's eyes... when I died.  
  
I saw where my blood had spilt and mixed with that of his wound... and most of all I felt the virus backing into a corner of my mind, striking out in an attempt to take over again. However there was no way I would allow it to take control of him... not before he was safely contained until he was cured. Awkwardly I began walking in the direction of the lab. Suddenly a thought hit me... why hadn't Doctor Light heard everything? Shouldn't he have come running to stop us? What could be wrong? My pace quickened at the realization...  
  
Through the long halls I briskly made my way until at last I opened the heavy metal doors... and found nothing inside. I grew greatly panicked... for time was of the greatest essence, and every second lost was another piece of my only brother lost to the madness of the virus. I prayed that I had the strength to keep it contained... at least until I had Blues in a position where he could not hurt anyone.  
  
"Doctor Light!" I called out. "Doctor Light!"  
  
Still no response, and no sight of him. Where in the world could he be?! Frightened, my walk turned into a dead run into the room where Sierra was still recovering... I threw open the metal door with all my might, the same time shouting "DOCTOR!"  
  
Instantly the old man's white lab coat bustled into view, his face a frazzled mess of confusion that would have been funny if not for the seriousness of the situation. I sighed deeply in relief, slowing down my heart rate and trying to catch my breath. I had to choose my words very, VERY carefully...  
  
"Boy, am I glad to see you, Doc..."  
  
"Blues? What happened? I thought you were with Zero!"  
  
"..." I had forgotten in that moment whose body I was in... how was I going to explain it?  
  
"Doc... there isn't much time..." I began, "You see... I'm not Blues... and Zero... he's... or I... am de--"  
  
"Grandfather?" said a weak voice from the back of the room. My heart stopped. The capsule, still aglow in blue light, had opened, and from it emerged Sierra. She emerged from the darkness like the angel she was... I could only stare as her slim form walked silently but slowly towards Doctor Light and myself... and her face came into view. My eyes widened... she looked as if nothing had ever happened! Oh, how technology can create such lies... I was overjoyed to see no trace of her illness, of course... but...   
  
Her features became a mask of confusion, looking behind us... and I knew exactly what she was seeking.  
  
"Sierra..." I murmured, on the brink of tears. Just then the weight of everything I had done... to her, to Blues, even to Bass, fell upon my shoulders like a white-hot knife, cutting into the depths of my spirit.  
  
"Blues?" she asked, her grandfather echoing the inquiry. "What's happened? Why are you covered in... blood?!"  
  
"I..." What was I to say? Dear gods... how could I tell her... "I'm not Blues, Sierra... not now... Doctor Light... the virus... destroyed Zero... and now I am Zero..."  
  
"What?" Light paled, clearly not comprehending. "Zero is... dead? And you aren't Blues...?"  
  
"That's right..." I nodded. "I'm Zero... you see, I ejected my backup chips before I... died... for Blues to give to you... but he became infected by the virus as well due to my own failures... and now I am inhabiting his body in attempt to keep the virus from consuming him. It was the only way I could risk saving him."  
  
My eyes fell upon my love, who was covering her mouth with her hands. "So... Zero is dead... oh my god..." she turned from us, and I barely heard the near-silent sobs shaking her body. I clenched my... no, Blues'... fists to my sides, unable to do anything. I felt the Doctor's sorrowful gaze pass between us, and tried to reassure us both.  
  
"I see... but you have your chips, so you can be rebuilt, Zero. And Blues... well... if I can get him to the lab, I might be able to isolate the virus this time... but I'll need help."  
  
"I can do it, Doctor," I said with a firm nod. "I know what to look for."  
  
"I'll help too..." Sierra murmured, "...if I can somehow save them..."  
  
"Sierra..." I said, finding no words of comfort. She turned to face me again, her eyes piercing mine, as if to find my soul within Blues' body. Freezing, I met her gaze, almost unable to contain the sorrow and regret I was feeling. She stepped closer to me... still staring, then gave a weak smile.  
  
"It is you..." came her murmur before she closed the space between us and covered my lips with hers. I returned it hesitantly, knowing that I didn't deserve any forgiveness for the things I had done... that she knew and had yet to know of. I couldn't stand the thought of having to tell her about how I'd slaughtered Bass... how I'd fought Blues... and how... I died... now I understand how Blues would have felt, had he been in this position.  
  
I felt her arms surround my neck, and it was then that I pulled away. Her hurt expression imprinted itself in my mind, but she said nothing. I knew she wanted to apologize herself; for slapping me earlier that day... gods, had it only been a few hours ago that it all happened? It seemed like a hundred years had gone by...   
  
"Zero..." she said softly.  
  
"I... am sorry," I stammered. "But it's... wrong. This is not me..."  
  
"I know... but Blues' body or your own... you're still Zero..."  
  
I turned away in shame, following Doctor Light into the massive laboratory. The corridors along the way shone their harsh lights upon me... as if they were chastising my every step, every move. It was unbearable to think of it all... even the shadows surrounding me and hiding from brightness seemed to cackle and dance at my self-revulsion and pain...  
  
Looking up, I stepped through the threshold of the halls and into the lab I knew so well. Light had already set up a small table for me, connected to numerous sensors and computers... some of which were completely unfamiliar, though I had no wish to inquire when he had built them. I noted for a second a shadowed area on the other side of the large room, where a sheeted form lay hidden and hooked up to wires and other contraptions. Curiously I peered at it, trying to discover what it was... however incomplete it appeared. Shaking my head I let the thought slide, trying to focus on the present.  
  
My lack of concentration nearly staggered me, the weakness of the action enabling the virus to gain a foothold. Fortunately this did not escape Sierra and Doctor Light's attention, and they swiftly proceeded to strap me down to the table with secure titanium bracing. The entire time I barely heard the old man explaining to Sierra what the virus was, but I realized he was leaving out bits and pieces of how it had happened, much to my surprise. Why was he sheltering her...? But I could no longer think for the next few seconds as a fresh wash of pain enveloped my consciousness...  
  
"Zero!" Sierra cried. "Hang on!" Her small hand covered mine, trying to squeeze it in reassurance. Even so, I felt her fear and astonishment of the virus and what it was doing to this body. I was content only in knowing that the restraints would keep me from harming her, intentionally or no. I had to be strong... I had to fight this with Blues...  
  
"Si... erra... AHHH!" My muscles began to spasm, throwing me roughly and painfully against the restraints. I felt Doctor Light firmly placing the sensors on me, saw Sierra analyzing the chip slot where I had input my data into Blues' body. Clicking and chirping sounds ensued as data of Blues' condition flowed into the terminals... and I could feel the tension as Doctor Light scurried to make sense of it and race to fight it.   
  
Then, I felt Blues returning in my mind... no... it was HIS mind... sensed his confusion and weak outrage at what I had done... I'm sorry, brother... it was the only way... he was losing it... I heard the maniacal laughter only my nightmares would ever show him doing... gods, did I sound like that! Stop the laughter, brother... Stop...  
  
It was frightening... so very frightening... his thoughts covered mine... I was losing my hold... the insanity spread... NO! I DON'T WANT TO BE INFECTED AGAIN! In my mind I screamed... I was falling... falling...  
  
...And suddenly I was free. All of the pain was gone... but I felt nothing at all! My entire body was numb... and where was the virus?! I opened my eyes... only to find that I was back in my holographic form. My gaze flew to Sierra, who was gingerly holding my chips as she stared straight at me. Somehow... she had removed my chips without erasing my program... and I praised her genius. Oh, my love...  
  
Her eyes were watering... and there was nothing I could do. Then a scream cut into my heart as I stared at her, freezing whatever blood a hologram may have... and I whirled to see Blues... still struggling where I had been before... screaming as the virus took over his mind... please no...  
  
"Doctor!" I pleaded, "Is there nothing to be done?!"  
  
But his answer was drowned out by an ear-shattering blast coming from just outside. A small quaking shook the floor, sending Sierra and Light sprawling on the floor. I, being only a projection, took no notice as I scrambled to a still-standing computer monitor in order to determine who the intruder was. Pressing a key or two, the screen flared to life with the image of a horrendous flying craft in the shape of a skull... gods...  
  
It was Wily! I had completely forgotten about him! Cursing to myself I attempted to activate the auto-defenses that Sierra had installed, only to find them destroyed. Damn!  
  
"Sierra! Doctor!" I screamed. "We have to get out of here! NOW!"  
  
"We can't!" the old man shouted over the roar of a second explosion. "I won't leave the lab! I have---" His answer was cut off, again covered by roaring of bombs above us. The ceilings began to crack, and I held my breath as I searched for my other companions... where was she?!  
  
"Sierra!" I shouted. A strangled cry came from one side of the lab table, where Blues was completely unaware of his surroundings, still straining to release himself. I ran over, finding that one of the computers had fallen onto Sierra's left leg and pinning her to the ground. Horrified, I channeled what power I had into moving the thing, finding it heavier than it looked. The blasts were coming more frequently, each time I cursed the mad scientist, then at myself for not killing him when I had the chance. Had I been in physical form I was sure my ears would be ringing, for my love had covered her ears painfully at the tremendous thundering, tears streaming down her face from her pain...  
  
"Zero..." she murmured. "I can't... move..."  
  
"It's okay, Sierra..." I tried to reassure. "I'll get you out of this..."  
  
"I... I'm sorry, Zero," she said in a whimper. "I never meant to... do this..."  
  
"What are you talking about?" I asked quickly, pausing in my efforts.  
  
"Bass... the virus... everything... I started all of it..."  
  
"Gods, Sierra! It's not your fault! Don't even think it!"  
  
"No... it was all me... and now look what I've done... oh Zero... why can't I be like you?!"  
  
"You don't want to be..."  
  
"Yes... I do... more than anything... I'm weak... humans are weak... and because of it... you're..." she choked, "...dead..."  
  
"Sierra..."  
  
CRASH! More rubble tumbled down from above; the ground shook even more. My hologram flickered in and out of existence from the intense energy I had used to keep a solid form... but Sierra was still trapped...  
  
"Not now, dammit!" I cried, clenching my fists and threw myself against the computer holding her down again. The entire time I watched her blue eyes... those sky blue orbs filled with pain and sorrow... her beautiful face marred with specks of dirt and blood... her long brown hair in disarray...  
  
...Then the image was shattered by a final bomb blast... everything in time slowed... and the walls caved in. The last thing I saw was Sierra pummeled... then buried... in sharp glass, rock, and metal...   
  
I screamed. Then all went black.  
  
  
"SIERRA!!!!!!!!!"  
  
  
END OF BOOK ONE.  
  
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Author's Notes: So, minna, how was it? Yes... not as long as I had planned... but PLEASE tell me what you thought of the whole thing! I mean... this is 120 pages long in total! *Phew* So, would everyone like a Book Two? I already have it planned out... so if I get enough reviews, I'll post some!   
  
Thank you for taking the time to read Creation and Emotion, A Mega Man Alternate Universe, Book One. ~Sierra Omega~  



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